Hang On
by owelpost
Summary: Kenzi is injured.  Bo must rely on her friends to help her, including Lauren.  Takes place before Season 2.  Revised chapter 14.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is aninterpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places,or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

Hang On

by Owelpost

"Just hang in there, Kenzi. Just-" her breath caught in her throat as she tried to fight off panic, "hold on!"

With a grunt of effort, Bo managed to rest most of her unconscious friend's weight against her upraisedleg in order to free her right hand to fumble the keys awkwardly from her pocket and unlock the clubhouse's door. She tried to turn the knob, but her blood slicked fingers merely slipped off the shiny metal.

"Fricken' hell!" she screamed. Gathering Kenzi into a protective embrace, Bo backed away from the door to give her enough room. One powerful kick obliterated the obstacle.

"Can't… afford to fix… that," Kenzi murmured through swollen, cracked lips.

Bo looked down at her friend, startled to hear her voice. She was so relieved that Kenzi had awakened, that she almost tightened her embrace in a ferocious hug. She stopped, unsure what kind of internal damageKenzi had undergone.

"Shh! Save your strength, Kenz, I'm going try to help you, but you've got to be strong for me, okay?"

"Tryin'…"

After clearing the door, Bo moved swiftly to the couch, easing Kenzi down onto the cushions. She let out a painful groan that made Bo wince. She knelt beside the smaller woman, and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her friend's eyes. Kenzi managed a small smile before closing her eyes again.

Bo could feel the blood coursing through her veins, her heart pumping at an exceptionally rapid rate. Her hands were shaking as she looked at Kenzi, trying to ascertain just how bad things were. Kenzi's face was a mess. It was swollen and bruised and bloody. There was a large gash across her forehead, which trickled blood down her cheek and into her eyes. Her throat was also bruised, as though someone had tried to choke her. A couple of Kenzi's fingers were bent at odd angles. And Bo was fairly certain from the way that Kenzi refused to move her arm, that it was broken.

She felt lightheaded and uncertain. She had no idea what to do. She stood up and started toward the kitchen for some damp towels, but a different unclear thought stopped her and she turned back. She felt sick to her stomach, and she couldn't clear the fog from her brain enough to coax the thought to coherence. Bo's hands and fingers tingled and her breathing was harsh and rapid.

"Hot… pants…"

Bo snapped to reality when Kenzi spoke. "Uh, thanks…" she said.

"No—call—" Kenzi choked out, but her eyes rolled back, showing the whites and she shuddered before closing them again.

"Oh. Oh!" Dr. Hotpants. That was what Kenzi called Lauren. _Why__ didn__'__t __I __think__ of __that?_ Bo thought as she shoved her hand in her pocket and brought out her cell phone. She knew why she hadn't thought of it, aside from the fuzziness invading her brain. She unlocked the touch screen, leaving a massive smear of blood all over it. She rubbed the phone on her pant leg, transferred it to her other hand and rubbed her fingers on her leg, trying to get most of the blood off. When she had cleaned her fingers and managed to get them to stop shaking long enough, she dialed Dr. Lauren Lewis' familiar number.


	2. Chapter 2

Hang On

Chapter Two

Lauren scribbled another note on the chart. She fit the pen into the clip and handed the entire board to the nearest assistant. "Make sure this makes it into the Ash's inbox, please," she said. The assistant nodded and bustled off.

_I wish I could acquire some phoenix blood, _she thought as she stood gazing down at the patient. Lauren had placed the man into an induced coma to keep him from using his erratic fae abilities as she attempted to heal him, but everything she had tried was not working. Sometimes she wondered if she was fooling herself into thinking she was able enough to care for light fae patients.

Stifling a yawn behind her palm, Lauren went to her research station and sat down. She was going to have to try something else, because phoenix blood was out of the question. No one had seen a phoenix in more than a thousand years. An involuntary sigh escaped her and she closed her eyes. She had been working on this for four days straight and heavy research had intruded on her sleeping schedule. Not that she had been able to sleep much with errant thoughts of Bo streaking in and out of her mind.

A sour feeling flooded her stomach. She frowned, folded her arms on the desk in front of her and rested her forehead against them. She had no idea what to do about Bo. She had made an awful mistake, but Bo wouldn't answer her calls or give her the time of day in order to explain. Well, as awful as she felt about the situation with Bo, she had bigger fish to fry. Not the smallest of them being earning the Ash's trust again. Failing him with Bo had not exactly been the highlight of her career.

With these thoughts swirling endlessly in her brain, Lauren slipped into a fitful sleep in the middle of the lab, her breathing slow yet uneven. It wasn't until she felt a gentle hand shake her shoulder that she awoke. She raised her head to see a sympathetic orderly holding her cell phone out to her. She embarrassedly wiped a small amount of drool off the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and accepted the cell.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem. It's been going off non-stop for the last five minutes. I thought about leaving it alone, but whoever is calling keeps trying, so it must be important."

Lauren nodded, smiling apologetically, but when she checked the call log the smile instantly disappeared. Her stomach dropped and the butterflies moved in. She considered not returning the call, except that the phone went off again. It had to be important, or Bo would not be calling her. She had no delusions that Bo wanted to speak to her regarding what had happened between them; something else was going on.

Despite much effort, Lauren was unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice when she answered. "Dr. Lewis," she said in a clipped tone.

"Please, Lauren, you've got to help me!"

Lauren's mouth fell open. Bo was breathing heavily, clearly in the grips of an intense bout of panic. In the time that she had known her, Lauren had never seen Bo panic. No, that wasn't true; she had seen her panic once, when Kenzi had unknowingly eaten basilisk poison in the form of foot soup.

_Shit! _"Oh no, Bo, what's wrong with Kenzi?"

"How did you—never mind, can you come to the clubhouse? Kenzi needs you. Lauren, I—I need you!"

"Bo! Bo, listen to me. I will be there as soon as I can, just stay put. I'm coming, okay? I'll be there."

She snapped her phone shut and vaulted out of her seat, adrenaline forcing the remaining sleepiness out of her skull. She tossed her laptop into its bag and grabbed the biggest medical supply kit she could find on the way out the door.

xxx


	3. Chapter 3

- X -

Lauren breathed heavily and leaned against the fence outside Bo's place for just a moment. She had been forced to park some distance away and had sprinted to the clubhouse with both her computer bag and the medical kit bouncing on her hips. She slowed her breathing and gathered herself, brushing errant strands of hair back into place.

Pushing forward, hoping that she looked far more composed than she felt, Lauren opened the outside door of the clubhouse. The next door, at the end of the short entrance hallway, had a huge hole in it. Lauren eyed it with curiosity before shaking her head and passing through it.

Once inside, she almost wished she hadn't come. The air smelled thick with blood, an almost nauseating scent. But she was used to the smell and she pushed the insanely selfish thought out of her mind, knowing it had more to do with a residual resentment of Bo than a lack of desire to help her friends.

Lauren strode into the room. The first thing she saw was Kenzi, sprawled on the couch. She looked smaller than usual, paler, too. Lauren's heart ached at the thought of the pain the young woman must be going through. The amount of blood covering Kenzi explained the smell, as well.

The next thing she saw was Bo, behind the couch, pacing back and forth with her attention on Kenzi. An involuntary gasp escaped Lauren as she took in the sight of Bo. She too was covered in blood. There were tears in her clothing, sometimes gaping holes revealing shredded flesh. Blood smothered her boots and every step left bloody footprints. Bo's dark eyes looked haunted and she clenched her hands and released them repeatedly. She breathed rapidly, chest heaving.

"Oh my God," Lauren whispered, dropping her burden to the floor so she would have both hands free to tend the situation. Lauren moved to Bo and stopped her pacing with a gentle touch.

Bo turned, grabbed Lauren's hands and met her gaze. "Help her," she begged.

"Stop, Bo, look at me," Lauren said, moving her hands to Bo's cheeks and directing her gaze. She tilted Bo's head and ever so gently brushed her lips against the brunette's.

Startled, Bo pressed her palms against Lauren's chest, shoving her back several paces. "Now is not the time, Lauren," Bo hissed. "You have some nerve-"

"Don't say something you might regret, Bo. Have you looked at yourself? You are in shock, you're hyperventilating, and you need to heal. I need your help with Kenzi, which means I need you functioning. Kiss me, Bo, and take what you can. It's all I have to give you."

Bo closed her eyes and Lauren saw her throat working. When Bo opened them again, Lauren felt an intense fear penetrate her body, deep into the marrow of her bones. Bo's gaze carried an insatiable hunger laced with something that Lauren couldn't immediately identify.

Her fear forced her to take another step away from Bo, but the woman was quick and closed the gap, encircling Lauren around the waist with brutally strong arms. Unable to stop herself, Lauren tried to turn her face away. Bo adjusted her grip in order to force the blonde's head to the side so she could kiss her tender throat.

Lauren felt herself relax, Bo's energies working to make her complacent. Before completely succumbing to the desire Bo washed over her, Lauren had one more vulnerable thought involving imminent death. It disappeared when the succubus' soft lips closed over her mouth.

- x -


	4. Chapter 4

- x -

Bo felt Lauren's familiar essence swirling through her body. It tasted sweet tinged with a slightly bitter bite. She leaned into their kiss, using her body to force Lauren backwards until they pressed against the wall.

She kept one arm circled around Lauren's waist, using her free hand to prop herself against the wall. She felt the blond woman beginning to sag, felt the flow of energy wane, but she couldn't stop herself. She had been so angry with Lauren, so hurt by her. Bo's subconscious mind was beginning to win out against her higher reasoning, even though she knew that if she persisted she could kill this woman.

Hands found Bo's waist and weakly pushed back. Lauren was trying with the last of her strength to free herself from Bo's embrace. Lauren's breath came in ragged, pleasured gasps. But she managed to force out one last plea.

"Kenzi!" Lauren begged, pushing Bo again.

Bo's head snapped up and she released Lauren, who immediately dropped into a helpless pile on the floor. "Oh shit! Oh shit!"

Bo knelt next to Lauren. The doctor's head lolled back as Bo gathered her in her arms. She was still breathing-barely. Bo kissed Lauren again, this time reversing the energy so that it flowed back into her.

Lauren moaned. Her eyes snapped open and she gazed up Bo, an unrestrained fear shining in her eyes. She wriggled free of Bo's embrace and staggered to her feet. "Fuuuuck." The first profanity that Bo had ever heard Lauren use passed her lips in a jagged, barely audible hiss.

The doctor stood for a moment, running her hands through her hair, then straightened her rumpled shirt. She met Bo's apologetic expression with a masked one of her own. Instead of addressing what had just happened, Lauren sprang into action, assuming the only role that let her feel in control of the situation.

As she picked up the bags she had dropped, the doctor ordered Bo into the kitchen to boil water and find clean towels. She had noticed as Bo lingered hesitantly that the fae's wounds had not healed entirely. Lauren had managed to ease some of the damage and had snapped Bo out of her panicked state. But the truth remained that the succubus had almost killed her and it wasn't enough. A sick feeling coiled in Lauren's stomach, weakening her knees. She would never be enough for Bo. _Never._

As Bo rustled around in the kitchen, Lauren found her cell phone and dialed the wolf's number. He, at least, could give Bo what she needed. Lauren would do the right thing even if it broke her heart.

- x -


	5. Chapter 5

- x -

By the time they had cleaned Kenzi up enough for Lauren to ascertain the damages, they had amassed a large pile of bloody towels. Lauren had sedated Kenzi so that she wouldn't feel a thing as the doctor set the bones in her fingers and taped them together.

The doctor had also stitched the gash in Kenzi's forehead with tiny, tight, nearly perfect sutures, hoping to leave as little scarring as possible. She had examined the bruises around the small woman's throat and determined them to be superficial.

"I need to x-ray her arm, Bo," Lauren said as she finished wiping the last bit of errant blood from Kenzi's brow. "And I'd like to check for any internal damage. But she's as comfortable as I can make her for now."

"She would never forgive me if I allowed you to take her to the lab again, Lauren."

"I know. I had a thought, though. I have a friend who runs a clinic for humans. She has x-ray equipment and an MRI. It's possible I could convince her to allow me to bring Kenzi in after hours."

"Hm, if you can't convince her, I sure can," Bo suggested, but the smile that was beginning to spread across her lips froze as Lauren glared at her.

"I don't think your powers of persuasion will be necessary this time, Bo. Contrary to popular belief these days, I am actually pretty persuasive myself." Something about Lauren's tone made Bo want to press the issue, but at that moment there was a commotion at the front door.

"What happened here?" Dyson bellowed, bursting into the clubhouse, followed closely by Hale.

"Dyson!" Bo cried, rushing into his arms and burying her face in his neck.

Lauren's cheeks flushed and she turned away, fussing over Kenzi. She paused in her ministrations when she felt a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. She glanced sideways to see Hale standing next to her.

"How's she doing, Doc?"

"This is as good as it gets until I can get her in the vicinity of some equipment. She seems to be stable for now..." Lauren's voice trailed off when she heard dishes and weapons crash to the floor as Dyson cleared the kitchen counter and lifted Bo up onto it. "Oh, for crying out loud! Sorry, Hale, I have to get out of here for a bit."

The chilly fresh air stung her lungs and she stumbled out of the clubhouse and sat down on the pavement. She drew her knees to her chest, buried her head in her hands and tried to clear the image of Bo and Dyson out of her mind.

"Lauren." Hale must have followed her out. "Thank you for taking care of my homegirl. It must have taken a lot for you to come here."

Her head snapped up and she violently brushed tears from her cheeks. "What do you know about that?"

"I may live in Dyson's shadow, but there is no place I would rather be. I am relegated to the background, which makes me privy to a lot of information I wouldn't have access to otherwise, Doc." He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. "For instance, I know how you feel about Bo. I know something happened between the two of you and that things are not okay. I know Dyson can be dick and he's been flaunting his connection to Bo."

Lauren took a shuddering breath and nodded ever so slightly, indicating that he should continue.

"I don't know why everyone feels the need to shit on you, Doc, but I see that it's happening."

"I'm human," she muttered, "Fae don't give a crap about humans, Hale."

"You gotta cut us some slack. Take Kenzi for instance, she's human and that girl cops an attitude with every fae to cross her path. There are those of us who respect her for that."

"You mean you do," Lauren said.

"Yeah, I do."

"Kenzi can afford to have an attitude. Bo has her back, Hale. I have the Ash, but he's about as interested in me as he is in watching paint dry."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. And to be honest, despite how she's been behaving, I think Bo really digs you. I think if push came to shove, she'd have your back too, despite whatever went down between you."

Lauren was unconvinced. "She nearly killed me, Hale. Just now," she said, sweeping a hand in the direction of the clubhouse, from which noises that Lauren did not want to hear, had begun to filter.

"You tried to heal her?"

"She was a mess, she needed something," Lauren admitted, fighting the urge to cover her ears. "But it felt wrong, like she was trying to hurt me..." She shook her head, dislodging the thought. "I called Dyson. I wasn't enough for her."

"How the hell are you still standing?" Hale asked his eyes wide.

"She gave some of my energy back, like she reversed her gift. It must be a new trick she's learned."

Hale let out a soft whistle that he must have laced with a hint of his siren's call because Lauren felt a soothing calm spread over her. She felt muscles that she didn't know had been tense relax.

"Thanks."

"My pleasure, Doc. So, what's next?"

"Well... I'm going to sit out here until those two are finished and pray that Kenzi doesn't wake up in the middle of it."

"Good plan. Listen, you feel like a cup of coffee? I was thinking about grabbing some."

"You know what? I could actually go for a cheeseburger. Would you mind?"

"Nah, not at all." He stood up.

"Oh, one other thing, could you find them a door? I think Bo smashed it in her haste."

"You got it. One cheeseburger and a door fresh to order." Hale grinned, tipped his hat to her and strolled away.

- x -


	6. Chapter 6

- x -

She had rummaged through the bottomless medical kit for a good two minutes before she found the bottle she was seeking. Popping the lid, Lauren shook out a small handful of pills, tilted her head back and tossed them into her mouth. She made a face as she chewed and then forced herself to swallow. She washed the residue away with the remnants of a can of Sprite that Hale had brought her with her cheeseburger.

He and Dyson were currently trying to hang the second-hand door he had also retrieved. And Bo sat watching her.

"What were those?" Bo asked. She had propped pillows and cushions against the bathtub and they now sat side by side leaning against it.

"Antacids."

"You need that many? Isn't that bad for you?"

"I'm stressed out, Bo. My stomach has been killing me for days. I haven't been sleeping. And, you know, some of us can't just fornicate with the nearest available creature and fix all our medical problems—" Lauren stopped herself, but Bo had already leaned away and fixed her with a fierce glare.

"Well, maybe you should stay away from cheeseburgers."

Lauren stared at Bo, feeling the corners of her mouth tugging upwards. When she couldn't contain it any longer, the laughter bubbled up and overflowed. "Did you just call me fat?"

"What? I would never—"

"I'm kidding. Besides that would be the pot calling the kettle black," Lauren teased.

"You didn't just call me fat, Dr. Lewis, because I might have to introduce you to my little friend Mr. Bicep." Bo flexed her arm, the muscle popping out. "He hates being called fat."

Lauren chuckled, reaching out to gently caress Bo's skin, stretched taut over the delicately massive muscle. "He is a perfect specimen. Although I find it interesting that you refer to your musculature in the masculine, Bo." When she realized what she was doing, Lauren dropped her hand and settled both of hers in her lap, twitching the thumbs together. She cleared her throat. "Have you thought any more about allowing me to take Kenzi to the clinic I mentioned?"

The smile dropped from Bo's face, as though she felt guilty for having fun while Kenzi lay injured. "Uh, yeah. I think we should do that. She won't mind as long as she's nowhere near the Ash-hole—"

"I wish you wouldn't call him that."

"Lauren, come on. He's a jerk. He runs around pretending he can tell everyone what to do."

"He can."

"What?"

"He _can_ tell everyone what to do, especially me, Bo."

"Why? What could he possibly have on you that would require such unswerving fealty? "

Lauren pushed herself forward and climbed to her feet. "I can't tell you right now, Bo. I wish I could. I just need a little more time." As she bent down to scoop up the med kit and scattered garbage from her lunch, Bo caught her wrist and pulled her down so that she squatted, face to face with the seated woman.

"These secrets are driving a wedge between us, Lauren. I don't see how we can fix things if you are constantly hiding your world from me." The intensity of Bo's gaze set Lauren trembling. They stared at one another for a heartbeat before Bo released Lauren's hand. "Whatever. Obviously, I have made another mistake."

"Bo—"

"No. You need to get out of here, Lauren."

"You're just like the rest of them, Bo! You summon me when you need me and dismiss me when you're finished with me. How can you act so righteous—hold so little regard for the Ash—when you are just like him?" Lauren's fists tightened as she stood up. "I will leave the clinic's card on the table. My friend's name is Dr. Zandra Bane. I will make sure she's expecting you."

Bo watched Lauren go, feeling blood suffusing her cheeks and her head pounding. She let out the breath she had been holding and leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

_What have I done?_

- x -


	7. Chapter 7

- x -

Everyone had left the lab by the time Lauren made it back. She tossed her jacket across the desk and dropped into the chair.

Feeling sorry for herself was not generally in Lauren's nature, but she was contemplating the downward spiral her life seemed to be taking. Finding Bo, the only fae Lauren had ever met who seemed to genuinely care for humans, had sparked something of a rebellion in her normally complacent soul. She had never felt as torn as she did when she began helping Bo with treatments that would potentially ease her succubus nature. She knew it was forbidden to help anyone not belonging to the light fae, but she had done it anyway. She had defied the Ash just this once and, as with all things fae, the cost was becoming too much to bear.

The discomfort had come to a head when the Ash had asked Lauren to use her relationship with Bo to keep the succubus out of harm's way. He had known all along that the doctor had been assisting Bo. Lauren relearned a valuable lesson that day—it was difficult for a human to keep secrets from the fae, especially one as strong as the Ash.

He had little advice to give her on how she was supposed to control a headstrong, unaligned member of the fae world—one who seemed to be able to do whatever the hell she pleased, piss off a pile of people while doing it, and yet still manage to keep herself alive. What use was Lauren against that kind of strength? But the Ash had indicated the only weapon available to Lauren. "She's a succubus," he told her.

Try as she might, Lauren could not see any other way around it. She had used the only weapon she possessed to protect Bo—her body. The sexual tension between them had been building for weeks and Lauren had used it to seduce Bo, regardless of the potential risk to her own life.

The worst part was that she hadn't even been able to occupy Bo long enough to do any good. When she awoke to find Bo dressing, she had panicked and that was when her whole world had crashed down around her. The hurt and anger in Bo's eyes as she stormed out of the room that night would haunt Lauren for a very long time.

Bo's phone call today had afforded Lauren a small opportunity to attempt to fix her mistakes, but apparently she couldn't even do that right. She had helped Kenzi to the best of her ability given the circumstances, had even managed to get Bo to open up again, and then because of her stubborn loyalty to the Ash had allowed the opportunity to slip away.

But the topping on the cake had been Bo's off-handed dismissal. Because the damned woman could not stop asking questions, Lauren had been forced to shut down. Again. Lauren had been incensed this time, however, because she never would have expected Bo to treat her the same as every other fae did. Bo had used her for her medical knowledge and then sent away.

Taking a deep breath, she ran her hands through her hair, trying to calm the storm racing through her mind. Now she shook with barely restrained anger. It wasn't very often that she allowed herself to lose control-this evening it hung by a tenuous thread.

This place, the Ash's compound, seemed to be agitating her even more. There was nowhere she could go in this building that didn't feel wrong tonight. The complex had been her home for five years now and although she was allowed free range of the outside world, she was always at the beck and call of the Ash and his people. Normally, this fact didn't bother her but these days it seemed to make her skin itch.

Lauren tried to relax, to unclench her hands. There were half- moon creases in her palms where the nails had dug in. She had to do something to get these pent up emotions out of her system. Everywhere she looked there were folders and charts. The room was cold an uninviting. Finally, something inside Lauren's mind snapped and the rage finally gathered itself and launched out of her body. She screamed, stood up and swept her arm across her desk sending the things that inhabited it flying in every direction.

A lone pencil jar stood on the corner of her desk and she grabbed it, snarling, and whipped it across the room. When she looked up, she was mortified to see the Ash standing there, looking at the scattered pencils at his feet, expressionlessly.

Immediately, Lauren ran around her desk and dropped to her knees, bowing so low that her forehead touched the ground. She stayed that way, listening to the man's shoes scuff the floor as he walked. Her entire body was shaking when he rested a gentle hand on her back, then carefully gripped her arm and drew her to her feet.

"I do not require you to bow to me, child," he said.

"I'm sorry, I was reminded today that I am merely a lowly servant, and—uh—" she pointed to the mess of pencils, "—it seemed appropriate."

"You do seem agitated. Does bowing ease this distress for you?"

Lauren shook her head, "No, sir."

"I thought not. Did making this mess help?"

Lauren couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her lips. His deep voice carried the tiniest hint of amusement. Most people didn't notice the nuances when they spoke to the man, but Lauren had worked closely enough with him to learn to pick them out. "It might have," she replied, noticing that she did indeed feel better.

"Good," he said. He wandered around taking in the mess she had made, hands clasped behind his back. "This Bo certainly has quite an effect on people." Lauren felt her blood run cold at his statement, although she should have known that he would be able to guess. He merely waved a hand at her. "I believe I made a mistake."

"How so, sir?"

"I thought nothing of the effect it might have on you when I sent you to detain the succubus."

"I am your property, it is your prerogative," Lauren whispered.

"True, but one must maintain things so that they are available for use when needed. I feel I am not maintaining you as well as I should."

Lauren shook her head. "I'm fine. Everything is out of my system, now."

"Indeed." Lauren stayed quiet, waiting for the Ash to gather his thoughts. "I want you to fix your little problem with Bo. I can't have you distracted."

Lauren caught herself before she rolled her eyes. _Fat chance of that happening_, she thought, but all she said was, "Yes, sir."

"Good. And clean up this mess, Doctor. It is unbecoming."

Lauren stood, watching him leave, feeling deflated. She wondered once she didn't have things tying her to him if he would one day release her. She knew that even if she were to be released, she would not be able to function in human world. She was in too deep.

- X-


	8. Chapter 8

Note from Author: Just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful comments. Some of them are inspiring me—which is good! Also, if anyone is interested in proof reading for me, please PM me. The last chapter was awful for errors… which I caught as an after sight. Sorry about that.

- x -

Dyson carried Kenzi through the back door of the clinic, Hale followed him and Bo brought up the rear. Once inside, they were ushered into an examination room where Dyson was able to ease Kenzi onto a gurney.

Bo stood outside the room with Dr. Bane. The woman was short, not even topping five three, and petite. She had medium length brown hair and a pair of hornrimmed glasses that gave her that old school librarian look. A smattering of faint freckles lent youthfulness to her face. Even in a pair of relaxed fit jeans, topped with a dark purple blouse, she cut a stunning, if minute, package. Though Bo had just fed from both Lauren and Dyson, she still felt a stirring hunger at the sight of the woman.

"Thank you for seeing us," Bo said.

"Not a problem. I would do anything for Lauren," Bane said.

Bo felt a small spike of jealousy at the loyalty this doctor bestowed upon Lauren. It reminded Bo that everything felt like a struggle. No one was loyal to her who didn't have something to gain by it and she rarely knew the kind of trust this woman obviously had in Lauren. The only one who selflessly gave Bo those things was Kenzi.

The thought of her friend in pain and suffering snapped Bo back to the situation at hand. "What can I do?"

Bane grasped Bo's fore arm and squeezed gently. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Bo swallowed hard. "I don't actually know... I left Kenzi at a bar. She met some friends of hers and wanted to hang out with them. I had some things I needed to take care of, so I left her—" She stopped, wiped tears from her cheeks, and just stood looking off down the corridor.

"It's okay, take your time," Dr. Bane said, trying to encourage Bo, yet give her the space to tell her tale. Bane rubbed Bo's shoulder as she led her to a chair just down the hallway.

"I found her outside our home, she … someone just left her there. Someone hurt Kenzi and then dumped her, like so much garbage," Bo said, clenching her teeth. Her emotions seem to have taken to oscillation. One moment she felt mortified and helpless at Kenzi's condition, the next she was angry. She couldn't seem to find a balance. Her face heated as she contemplated what she would do to whoever was responsible.

Dr. Bane seemed to sense the shift in her demeanor and took a step back, as though she felt an unknown power emanating from Bo. "Listen, I am going to do what I can for your friend," she said. "Although I am going to ask you to stay out here for the time being. I will send the gentlemen out shortly."

"I need to be with her."

"Kenzi and I will be right here. I will let you know when I have finished my preliminary examination and then you can come in and stay with her. Does that sound reasonable?"

"I think so."

"Good. I'll be back just as soon as I can. Please feel free to help yourself to refreshment. There is a lounge around the corner where you can find coffee and snacks if you like," Dr. Bane said and then disappeared into the examination room.

Moments later both Dyson and Hale came out. "You okay there, Bo?" Hale asked.

"As okay as I can be under the circumstances, I guess."

"Look, keep that chin up, okay, girl? Kenzi is one tough little girl. She's gonna be fine!"

"Thanks, Hale," Bo said. She glanced at Dyson. "Can you guys get me a coffee, or something? I need to be alone for a bit, I think."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

- x -


	9. Chapter 9

- x -

Bo stared at her fingernails. They were still crusted with blood—hers or Kenzi's, she had no idea. She had not taken the time to clean herself up and imagined that she must look quite the fright. She was a mess, not just physically. She was an emotional train wreck. The nightmare of what happened to Kenzi aside Bo was causing her own life to derail. She could even see it happening, yet couldn't make herself stop.

_You're just like the rest of them, Bo!_ Lauren had accused. Bo had been stubbornly defensive at first, holding on to her indignation at Lauren's refusal to confide in her. She had forced the doctor to leave, unable to handle thinking about what Lauren was doing to her as well as care what was happening to Kenzi. It had been too much and Bo had overloaded. She had hated the feeling that had blanketed her body at the expression on Lauren's face as she scorned Bo. She had felt ashamed. Of course Lauren was right; she had done exactly what every other fae did to the human race. She had used Lauren for what she could offer and then threw her aside without so much as a thank you. Bo hated herself for that.

How could she champion Kenzi, pretend to care for humans, and yet manipulate and use them just as other fae did? Resting her face in her hands and scrubbing up and down her cheeks, Bo concluded that she would need to do better. She had chosen humans rather than siding with either of the fae factions. That meant caring for all humans and not being hypocritical. Lauren deserved a chance to explain herself, perhaps under less stressful circumstances. She had not exactly been honest with Bo, but the succubus resolved to give the doctor the benefit of the doubt. Someone who harbored sinister ulterior motives didn't drop everything at one frantic phone call when they really had nothing invested in the situation. Lauren had done that for Bo. For Kenzi. There was something redeeming in the behavior.

Making up her mind seemed to give Bo a sense of control over the things that were happening in her life right now-a modicum of control, but control nonetheless. Admitting that she was powerless to help Kenzi right now, Bo felt a pressing need to try to deal with the other issue.

Checking to see that Dyson and Hale had not returned, Bo withdrew her cell phone from her jacket pocket and dialed Lauren's number. She fully expected to get voicemail, but the doctor answered on the first ring. Bo sat biting her lip, reveling at the sound of Lauren's voice, knowing she didn't deserve to hear it.

"Hello?" Lauren repeated through the phone.

"Lauren." For whatever odd reason, Bo could not make her mouth work.

"Hi." Lauren's voice was a balm to the succubus' woes. "You okay?"

"Yes—No-Damn it, Lauren, I need to see you. Please!" Bo begged, holding her breath while waiting for some form of harsh rebuke.

"How about now?" Lauren's answer came in a strange sort of echo and Bo looked up to see the blonde standing before her, folding her cell phone closed. Dumbfounded, Bo just stared. Lauren reached out and used one finger to lift Bo's chin, effectively closing her mouth. "Gaping stares aren't an attractive look for a succubus, Bo. You might want to work on that."

Ignoring the tease, Bo stammered, "I—you—what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check on Kenzi myself."

"I'm glad you're here," Bo said, rising from the chair in order to put her arms around Lauren. She buried her face in sweet smelling blonde strands. "Lauren, I'm so sorry. I've been such a jerk!" Comfort, security and the fact that Lauren was not rejecting her had a profound effect on Bo, opening the flood gates of pent up emotions. Caught in Lauren's secure embrace, Bo let herself break down, fat tears staining the doctor's shirt.

"Shh, Bo. It's okay." Lauren rubbed Bo's back, calming the intensity of the brunette's sobbing until she managed to catch her breath. When Bo looked up, Lauren regarded her with unbidden affection. "I'm here, Bo. Let's talk."

Bo nodded, allowing Lauren to pull her into an empty examination room.


	10. Chapter 10

- x -

The door shut behind them with a whisper. Lauren stared at the ivory tiled floor. Being in a sterile setting helped to calm her, but the things she needed to say to Bo were not going to leave the succubus as affectionate as she seemed to be right now and that meant that things were not going to be calm for long.

Doctoring made her feel better, so in order to center herself further and bolster her courage, Lauren set to fussing over Bo again. She took the succubus' hands, turning them over. They were still blood-stained. In fact, Bo was covered in blood. Lauren knew that Bo's romp with Dyson had healed the brunette, but it was still unsettling to see so much evidence. Lauren indicated that Bo should remove her jacket, which she did without protest.

Beneath the leather, Bo had a lightly sequined blouse that might have once been blue. It was definitely a purplish black color now, most of it soaked in dried blood. It was stiffening against Bo's skin where it wasn't torn and Lauren guessed that once Bo could begin to process things outside her immediate situation, it would likely be uncomfortable. Her leggings were in much the same condition. Lauren didn't even want to look at the succubus' boots. She could vividly recall the bloody boot prints at the clubhouse as Bo paced.

Under the examination table were a handful of drawers. Lauren surmised that any good doctor would keep hospital gowns and spare scrubs there, and she was happy to prove it. She took out a pair that looked long enough to fit the tall woman and put them on the table. She removed an extra shirt and brought it over to the sink in the corner of the room. She soaked the shirt and brought it back to Bo. She washed the blood from Bo's hands, and then turned over the shirt.

Bo had watched her quietly while she worked. She stood now with the wet shirt held loosely in her fingers, an uncertain smile gracing her lips.

"You'll feel better if you can get most of that off," Lauren said, turning for the door.

"Stay, Lauren, please."

Lauren paused. She did not want to watch Bo undress. She felt completely unbalanced as it was. Seeing Bo's body, even under these circumstances, would make everything that much more difficult. She dropped her chin and stood with her back to Bo. She stayed that way until she heard Bo begin to rustle around, presumably cleaning herself up and changing. It was a few minutes before Lauren felt Bo come up behind her. Near, but not touching.

Lauren turned. She had chosen the scrubs well, they fit Bo's frame perfectly. The brunette stood inches from her. At least she looked more comfortable. Lauren, however, was growing increasingly uneasy. She wanted to beg Bo to turn down the succubus vibes, but that would be like Bo asking Lauren to not be human. She would just have to deal with her attraction as best she could.

She swallowed and found a spot on the wall to look at instead of Bo. "Feel better?"

"Yes, thank you," Bo said. "Lauren—" Bo started, but Lauren turned her attention back and put a finger against Bo's lips.

"Bo, I have things I need to say." She didn't intend the words to come out as harsh as they did and surprise registered on Bo's face. At least the sexual tension was doused. Lauren made a mental note of the side effect of pissing a succubus off. She wasn't keen on angering Bo off right away, but she couldn't see any way around it, so she forged ahead. "The Ash wants me to set things right between us, Bo."

All the air seemed to get sucked right out of the room. The temperature felt like it dropped. Bo stepped back from Lauren, narrowing her eyes, and crossed her arms across her chest. "I see," she said.

Lauren felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise, felt her own temper rising. "Am I wasting my time?"

"No, by all means, please tell me what the Ash has to say," Bo said, sarcasm fairly dripping from her voice.

Lauren snapped. She had been prepared for Bo to be unreasonable, she just thought that maybe it would be further into the conversation. She rushed forward and pressed both hands into Bo's shoulders, shoving the woman until her back came up against the wall. Even when their bodies had stopped their motion, Lauren kept the pressure on and got right in the taller woman's face. "Why does what the Ash wants and what I want have to be two different things, Bo?"

"Because I can't distinguish between them."

"Fine." Lauren gripped the collar of Bo's scrubs, creating a fist of material by which she pulled Bo down. She crushed her lips against Bo's, forced her tongue inside the brunette's not entirely unwilling mouth. Lauren felt Bo begin to respond, relax a little. Now they were speaking the succubus' language and it was easier than words. Lauren broke the kiss, leaving both of them gasping for air. "Do you think the Ash wants that?"

Bo was silent, stunned. Lauren kissed her again, more tenderly, before releasing her. The doctor's shoulders sagged forward as she dropped into the nearest chair. "I'm so torn, Bo. I owe the Ash everything I have. His world—your world—has been my only existence for the last five years. I don't even think I can go back to 'normal'. He does have a hold over me, Bo, but I stay because I want to, because I wouldn't be able to see or do the things I've done without what the fae world offers me." She took a deep, shuddering breath, and continued, "And then you showed up, putting a tailspin on everything. At first I couldn't tell if I was just responding to your charms, Bo, or if what I felt was real. I wanted so badly to know—what I did may have made that impossible, but I don't regret it. I'd do it again."

"But why, Lauren?" It was an anguished plea.

"I care about you, why don't you see that? I'm a _human_, Bo. Do you understand? I'm not some powerful shifter who can protect you on brute strength alone. I don't have some mysteriously wonderful gifts. I am what you see—flesh and bones. What other means of protection could I offer you? I used what I had, Bo. What I did, while also at the behest of the Ash, I did because I didn't want you to get hurt. I tried to talk you out of it! You wouldn't listen." Lauren looked up, eyes shining, "You _never_ listen."

Bo's eyes were closed. Lauren studied her as she processed what the doctor had said. The brunette stood still as a statue, the rise and fall of her chest barely perceptible. No emotion showed on her face. Lauren almost felt afraid, except she noticed a single tear squeeze a trail down Bo's cheek. "I didn't give you much of an option, did I?" Bo said, opening her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't think how much of an effect my stubbornness would have on you. You're not the only one who tried to stop me from seeking out the Mesmer, you know."

"I'm not the only one to have failed, either."

Bo wanted to say more, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Bo smiled apologetically at Lauren. "Can we talk more later?" she asked. Lauren nodded, lifting her chin toward the door. Bo opened it, revealing Dr. Bane, flanked by both Dyson and Hale.

- x -


	11. Chapter 11

- x -

"She's awake." The words had barely escaped Zandra Bane's mouth before Bo shot out into the hallway. The detectives followed Bo to the neighboring examination room, leaving Lauren and Zandra in their wake.

"How are you, Lauren?" Zandra asked thrusting her hands into the pockets of a lab coat she had donned for examination of Kenzi. She awarded the blonde with a lopsided grin.

"I'm well, Zane. I wanted to thank you for doing this for them—for me. It means a lot."

"You knew I wouldn't refuse when you called."

"I was fairly certain you would help me, yes, but I was hesitant to ask regardless. I didn't want to presume anything." Lauren managed to look sheepish. "I didn't want to give you the wrong idea."

Zandra actually laughed. "Ah, Lauren, you are sexy as ever, but I'm over it. One can pine for a lovely lady only for so long. I've moved on. And apparently—" Zandra waved a hand in the direction Bo had gone, "—so have you. This Bo, she is quite something isn't she? It feels like the world is closing in around you when she's present."

"She has that effect on people, yes."

"I can see why you like her. But she's frighteningly intense."

"She doesn't do it on purpose. It's somewhat ingrained."

Zandra nodded, pulling out the collar of her shirt and flapping it in and out. "It's hot, that's for damned sure; in a dangerous sort of way."

This time it was Lauren's turn to laugh. "You have no idea." She smiled and caught Zandra around the shoulders. "Thank you again—really."

"You're welcome. You know I'd do anything for you, LoLee."

By the time the two doctors joined the party in Kenzi's room, Zandra had put on her professional façade again, giving no hint that anything more had once existed between Lauren and herself. Lauren was grateful. The last thing she needed was to explain that relationship to Bo. Hell, half the time she couldn't explain it to herself.

"Hi, Kenzi," Lauren said when she entered the room and saw the young woman propped up on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Hurts," Kenzi muttered.

"I imagine. Dr. Bane is going to take great care of you."

"Does she at least—have morphine? Oxycodone?" Kenzi asked, attempting a mischievous grin that was perverted by ruined lips.

Zandra moved to Kenzi's side. "I'm sure I can find some pain-fighting narcotics. But first we need to do some x-rays and make sure everything inside is copacetic."

"Groovy," Kenzi said, closing her eyes. "Get—your— Kenzi-fried chicken."

Bo's face lit up with a grin that spread. If Kenzi were cracking her usual, unique jokes she was clearly on the mend. Lauren felt the atmosphere of the room change, the worried tension dissipating. Hale had taken up position on the other side of the bed and held Kenzi's wrist gently, almost affectionately. Dyson stared at Bo, but when he noticed Lauren's attention he dropped his gaze to Kenzi.

"Kenzi, we're going to need to ask you some questions about what happened. Is that okay?" Dyson finally said, breaking the silence that had descended. Kenzi's eyes fluttered a little and she opened one, sleepily eyeing the shifter.

Bo smacked Dyson's arm. "Later!"

"What! I just want to get whoever did this," Dyson said.

"Don't—fight!" Kenzi said. "Questions, yes—good."

"Rest for now, Kenz. You're safe. We'll figure out the rest later."

"Mmm. Sleep..." Kenzi drifted off.

Dr. Bane shooed everyone but Bo out of the room, and closed the door behind them. They gathered in the hallway. "Here's what's going to happen. I have a technician on the way who will take the x-rays, but he's still fifteen minutes out. There is no sense in all of you staying here. I understand you all care about Kenzi, but she's probably just going to drift in and out of sleep from here on out. Why don't you go home and I'll call when I have further information."

Hale looked about to argue, but Dyson nodded. "Come on, Haley, we need to get some rest or we're not going to be any good to Kenzi. We need to be ready when she's good to talk."

The detective obviously recognized his partner's point as valid and allowed himself to be pulled away from Kenzi's room. Dyson eyed Lauren on his way by, an unreadable expression on his face. She merely stared after him.

"Interesting," Zandra commented. "What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into, my friend?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know the dynamics," Lauren said.

- x -


	12. Chapter 12

- x -

Lauren paced the hallway, feeling better than she had for a couple of days. The tension that had been snaking in her belly since she had slept with Bo had eased considerably. It had been awful having something she so desperately wanted soiled by the notion that Bo thought it hadn't been genuine. They were far from repairing all the damage, but Bo was finally being receptive. She really needed Bo to understand how much she cared. When she had felt like there would be no resolution for them, it had occurred to her that if she had been a better liar none of this would have happened. It had been an uncomfortable concept to toy with and she was glad to be past it.

Pacing made her legs feel weak. She realized that a cheeseburger probably wasn't enough food to sustain her and wondered when her last _real_ meal had been. She sat in a chair and contemplated for a moment. She felt light headed and couldn't get her brain to work well enough to remember. That was not a good sign.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" Lauren looked up to find a young man dressed in a lab coat, jeans and a t-shirt, looking down at her. "Are you all right?"

Lauren smiled. "Yes, thank you. Just tired. You must be the x-ray technician."

He nodded. "If you're okay, I guess I should get in there," he said.

"I'm good," she said. He smiled and pushed through the door into Kenzi's room. When he was gone, Lauren rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.

A strange sensation woke her. She was being carefully lifted. Someone had an arm on her back across her shoulder blades, another beneath her knees. She jerked involuntarily, causing Bo to tighten her grip. Lauren fought a sleepy urge to struggle further. "What are you doing?"

"You looked so uncomfortable. I was going to take you home," Bo said, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Bo, put me down!"

"I rather like having you limp and vulnerable in my arms," Bo said.

"You're going to break your back." Although she was enjoying the sensation of being hugged against Bo's chest, Lauren didn't like the helpless feeling such a position evoked. "Besides, there are better ways to make me limp and vulnerable," Lauren said, then clamped her mouth shut, embarrassed.

Bo chuckled, but swung Lauren effortlessly and set her on her feet. Lauren gasped. She knew Bo was strong, but she'd never had the opportunity to experience it for herself. She felt a little bit intimidated and had to take a moment to collect herself.

"Will you come voluntarily?" Bo asked, eyeing Lauren, as though seeing the dark circles under the blonde's eyes for the first time. The succubus ran a hand through Lauren's hair, brushing it back from her face to tuck it behind an ear.

"What about Kenzi?"

"Sleeping. Dr. Bane says she thinks Kenzi will be out for a while and that I should go home for a bit and rest. When I saw you passed out in that chair, I couldn't help myself."

"I really need to get back to the compound. I've been away for too long. I sort of dropped everything I was working on to help you," Lauren said.

Bo's expression changed only slightly. A subtle narrowing of her eyes and a shift in her stance gave away her displeasure at the notion of Lauren returning to the clinic. "When was the last time you slept, Lauren?"

"I don't know, Bo. Between this fae guy I've been trying to help, and Kenzi and… you, I haven't been sleeping much at all. I just—I really need to get back. The guy is in serious trouble if I don't find out what's wrong with him soon. I don't have time to sleep." Lauren began to walk away, but Bo caught her by the arm effectively stopping her.

"Lauren, thank you."

Lauren inclined her head. "You're welcome."

Bo studied her for a moment, a haunted look settling over her features. Her next words came out as barely a whisper, "I almost killed you earlier, do you realize that?" Lauren startled, glanced away, not knowing exactly how to respond. Bo caught her chin and forced her to look into her eyes. "What you did was very dangerous."

Lauren's mouth went dry. "I know."

"I owe you so much, Lauren. I know you called Dyson. If you hadn't we'd all be in a lot more trouble than we are now."

At the mention of the shifter, Lauren's face heated and she clenched her teeth. She didn't want to be reminded that her human chi was not nearly enough to heal the succubus. She took hold of Bo's wrist and carefully drew the woman's hand from her face. "You don't owe me anything, Bo. I did what I had to do." She forced a smile. "I really need to go."

Bo let her go.

- x -


	13. Chapter 13

- x -

Lauren stared bleary-eyed at the computer screen. She had spent the last two hours scouring the fae database, and human internet sites, for any scrap of information concerning a phoenix. Humans thought the creatures mythological and dedicated many stories to their fantastic abilities. The fae, of course, knew them to be real, but the database reported them as having disappeared a thousand years ago. There were plenty of rumors about existing caches of blood and tears, both believed to carry magical healing properties.

Lauren had already concluded that she would need to find one of these hidden treasures in order to save her patient. She had tried everything else she could think of to no avail. Crushing the heels of her hands into her aching eyeballs seemed to bring momentary relief to the burning dryness.

She had come down to her last resort: asking Trick for assistance. The way-station bartender was often able to procure things thought to no longer exist. If phoenix blood did exist, Lauren was fairly certain he would be able to locate it for her.

Setting her resolve, Lauren experienced a new-found burst of energy, her eighth wind. She slid off her chair and went in search of her jacket and car keys.

Lauren discovered that The Dal was not very busy when she climbed onto a bar stool at the far end of the bar. She sat quietly observing the bar's patrons as she waited patiently for Trick to finish up his current business.

He sidled over to her, a welcoming smile on his face. Aside from Bo, Trick had been one of the most accepting fae that Lauren had ever encountered. He never made her feel unwelcome and always treated her with the same respect he afforded the fae.

"Hello Lauren," he said, removing some empty glasses and mopping up left-over spills with his bar-cloth.

"Hi Trick."

"What can I get for you this evening?"

"I was hoping you could help me, actually. I've been trying to help a fae gentleman recover from an ailment that is beyond my skill. I was wondering if you would be able to help me find a rare item. I'd be willing to offer something in trade."

Trick considered her for a moment, his eyes bright with thought. "I heard what you did for Bo and Kenzi, Doctor," he said, chuckling at the incredulity that appeared on her face, "I will give you whatever assistance I can in repayment for your efforts tonight."

Lauren opened her mouth, thought, and closed it again. She regarded him carefully, searching for any indication of a trick. Finally she managed, "You don't even know what I need."

He smiled his bright, warm smile. "It doesn't matter what you need, I offered what assistance I can give. I will uphold my end of the bargain." He touched her hand, patting it affectionately. "What are you looking for?"

She made a here-goes-nothing face and told him what she needed.

"It just so happens I may know where to acquire some of that."

Lauren just about choked. If she had been drinking something at that moment she was sure it would have found its way out her nose. She stared in disbelief.

"Trick, you better not be having one over on me..."

"I wouldn't do that to you, my dear. But I will need about 24 hours to get my hands on such a rarity. Does your patient have that long?" The doctor nodded. "Leave it with me, then," Trick said.

Lauren felt such a huge release of pressure that she was almost buoyant. It seemed unfathomable that she had been struggling for days only to have the solution seem so simple. She couldn't help the dumbfounded grin that found its way across her features.

"There is one other thing I'll need, Doctor..."

Lauren felt the smile falter, but nodded, trying not to fear what he would ask of her.

"I want you to rest. You have been giving too much of yourself. You need a break."

Lauren let out a nervous laugh and nodded. "I think I can do that. Thank you so much, Trick, you have no idea what this means to me."

He nodded, patted her hand one more time as an affectionate dismissal and watched as she made her way toward the exit.

- x -


	14. Chapter 14

- x -

She hadn't really thought about where she was going with the large bag of Chinese food sitting in the passenger seat of her car. The odd way the traffic and street lights had blurry halos made her think that driving was perhaps not the most responsible thing for her to be doing when she was this tired.

Although she shouldn't have been surprised to find herself outside Bo's place, it was kind of interesting to think that this was where her subconscious had brought her. Thank goodness the food was more than enough for one person. She just hoped Bo was hungry.

She propped the bag in one arm and rapped on the door with her free hand. When it opened, Lauren stood stock still, momentarily stunned.

"What's up, Doc?" Dyson said, grinning infuriatingly at her. She thrust the bag of food into his hands, shoved him back inside Bo's house and closed the door between them.

She turned away, slowly heading back to the car, an ache settling deep in her chest. She should have known that the shifter would be here. Ever since she'd made the mistake of trying to protect Bo from Vex, Dyson and Bo had seemed bound even more. It was as though whatever affection Bo had reserved for Lauren was, from that night forward, diverted to Dyson.

She made it as far as her car before her legs threatened to give out. She managed to climb up onto the hood and sit with her knees drawn up, head between them. She sat in stunned silence, unwilling to fight the tears when they came.

She heard cautious footsteps before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She shoved the hand away, not bothering to look up.

"Lauren-"

"God damn it, Bo, I've been tortured enough for one night!" she growled. "I shouldn't have come here."

"Please, just-"

"_Go away!_"

"Dyson's gone."

Lauren did look up then. She could feel all the pain and uncertainty from the last couple of weeks boiling just below the surface. "You know, I was seriously deluding myself when I hoped that I might have something to offer you, Bo. But really how can I compare to Dyson?" She scoffed, shaking her head. "I don't even have enough _life_ to heal you completely!" Bo regarded her with a pained expression, which Lauren mistook for pity. "Don't look at me like that. I have made nothing but mistakes as far as you and I are concerned, but I get it now. You don't want human garbage, not when there's man-wolf to be had."

A cloud of anger appeared on Bo's face. "Your biggest mistake is presuming you know how I feel. You've made it twice now." The intensity of Bo's gaze set Lauren trembling. "I assumed you were a quicker study, Doctor."

Before Lauren knew what was happening, Bo had gripped her legs, unfolding her so that she slid forward into the succubus' embrace. The doctor managed to prop herself on her elbows, stunned at the sudden nearness of Bo's body. Bo gripped Lauren's waist, fingers digging insistently through her blouse into her skin, nearly painfully. The succubus' eyes were narrowed, conveying feelings that mere words could not. Not only was Bo angry, she was frustrated. Lauren felt her breath hitch in her chest as Bo raked her gaze over Lauren's body. Etched across Bo's features was one of the most possessive expressions Lauren had ever seen. Bo stood between Lauren's legs, devouring the doctor with nothing but ravenous eyes.

Caught between eroticism and terror, Lauren briefly considered struggling, but with Bo's strength she realized how futile and exhausting such an effort would be. Bo began to run her hands down Lauren's hips and around to her stomach, caressing as though she sensed the doctor's distant distress and set out to allay it. Fingers played at the bottom of Lauren's blouse, skipping across bare skin as it rode up. And then those hands were moving south to work the fly of her jeans. Bo eased Lauren up with one hand, while shifting the doctor's pants down with the other.

Suddenly unable to help herself, Lauren began unbuttoning her blouse. She desperately wanted to feel Bo's hands on her bare skin. Shrugging out of the blouse, Lauren was able to tangle her fingers in Bo's hair, drawing the succubus down until their lips met. Excruciating fireworks went off at the searching hunger Lauren felt in Bo's kiss. She could tell that the succubus was intent on proving something and Lauren was determined to let her.

Bo's fingertips brushed the tops of Lauren's breasts, curling under the fabric covering them. Shivers jolted up and down Lauren's spine at Bo's now tender, yet insistent touch. A loud ripping noise indicated when Bo had decided she wanted more, choosing to violently rid Lauren of the piece of clothing.

Bo broke their kiss. Lauren gasped, attempting to recapture the other woman by arching forward. Bo evaded her, choosing to watch Lauren's eyes as she trailed her fingers down the doctor's breasts, lower across her abdomen, finally stopping inside her thighs. She toyed with the fabric there, too, the final obstruction.

Lauren could feel Bo's heat, the driving passion, and wanted nothing more than to experience what the succubus was offering. Bo's eyes stayed on Lauren's as she bent her head forward, only looking away at the last possible moment to take one creamy nipple into her mouth, eliciting a contented sigh from Lauren.

The succubus' hands began their work then, too. Bo shifted Lauren's panties to the side, slowly, delicately sliding first one finger, then another inside Lauren's slick warmth. To keep from making too much noise, Lauren shoved her hand in her mouth and fought the rising urge to ride Bo. This was the succubus' thing and Lauren selfishly wanted to take it. She wanted Bo to work for it.

Bo's fingers and mouth worked with impeccable skill until Lauren could handle it no longer and allowed herself release with a low, guttural, animalistic moan.

Collapsing back against the hood of the car, and feeling the chilly metal against her back, Lauren draped a hand across her forehead and simply breathed in and out, trying to etch the feeling permanently into her memory. She smiled when Bo nestled herself between her thighs, resting her head against Lauren's stomach.

"_Now_ you get it," Bo said.

- x -


	15. Chapter 15

- x -

Lauren jerked awake. She bolted upright, not immediately aware of her surroundings. It took a moment for her whereabouts to sink in. _Uh oh_, she thought. The clubhouse—Bo's place. After their episode on the hood of the car, Bo had carried Lauren upstairs where not much further discussion had occurred. Try as she might, Lauren could not wipe the silly, satisfied smirk off her face. She clutched the sheet to her chest, feeling the emptiness of the bed beside her. She glanced at the bedside table, looking for her phone or some other source of time-telling. Instead she found a glass of orange juice accompanied by a bagel covered with peanut butter and a sliced apple that had already turned slightly brown. Beside it was a slip of paper.

_Eat_, the note commanded, _I've gone to see Kenzi. Make yourself at home._

Lauren threw back the sheets and stepped out of bed. She picked up a piece of the apple and tossed it in her mouth. Even browned it tasted delicious. Lauren ate another piece while she tried to find all of her clothing. Her bra was missing. Color flooded her cheeks as she realized that it had been left on the ground outside by her car. It would be no good, anyway. Bo had thought it worthy to at least grab Lauren's pants, but they were muddied and rumpled and she could not fathom putting them on. Instead she rifled through Bo's dresser, finding a pair of jogging pants, a tank top and oversized t-shirt.

Gathering up the rest of her breakfast, she carried her newfound attire into the bathroom, where she rinsed herself, then dressed, all the while munching on the food. After stuffing the last bit of bagel into her mouth and washing it down with the orange juice, Lauren loaded up her soiled clothing and carried the whole mess out to her car. She tossed everything into the backseat and stood for a moment. She felt a flush of pleasure as she looked at the car, suspecting she probably would never look at it the same again.

Sliding into the driver's seat, Lauren checked the console for her phone. She _had_ left it in the car last night along with her purse. In this part of town she was surprised to see that both were still where she had left them. As universally stupid as leaving them had been Lauren cut herself some slack. She hadn't had a decent night sleep in weeks and her higher functioning had been paying the price. Last night had been the first time in a long time that she had been able to sleep peacefully. She wondered if that had more to do with the fact that Bo had done her best to physically exhaust Lauren in every way possible.

As much as she had enjoyed spending the night with Bo, Lauren felt a strange feeling of foreboding settle over her. It turned her mood from elation to reserved contemplation. Bo had demonstrated that she cared for Lauren, that she had been able to at least forgive her a little bit. The facts remained that Lauren belonged to the Ash, that fae were not supposed to care for humans, that Bo also cared for Dyson. Bo might even love the wolf and Lauren didn't want to—couldn't possibly think about that.

Disappointed that her rationality had somehow managed to ruin her first amazing experience in a very long time, Lauren was saved from herself when her cell phone went off.

"Hello?"

"Oh thank God I finally managed to catch you!"

"Zane? What's wrong?" Lauren's stomach dropped. There was only one reason Zandra Bane would sound this freaked out.

"Kenzi is missing, Lauren! Your friend Bo—she's, uhm, upset."

Translation: Bo was losing her shit and Zane, with all her professionalism and excellent bedside manner, was no match for an enraged succubus, who had more than likely outed herself to hell with the consequences.

- x -


	16. Chapter 16

- x -

The consequences were far more complicated than Lauren could have imagined. She ran through the clinic, clutching the waistband of Bo's jogging pants in an effort to keep them up. As she rounded the corner, her footfalls were stopped dead and she rocked forward onto her tippy toes. She hung in that position unable to move her extremities.

"Whoa, darlin'!" A man stood in front of her, holding his palm toward her. A mop of haphazard dark hair covered his head. Beneath his right eye was a tattoo, too dark for Lauren to identify. From those features alone—not to mention the power now being wielded over her—she knew this man to be the Mesmer, Vex. "Who called in the cavalry?"

Fear spread itself evenly over Lauren's entire body, although she noted that he seemed to be struggling to control her. And then she saw why. Behind him, Lauren could see several humans slumped to the ground in little piles. At the far end of the hallway stood Bo eyes blazing blue, gripping the collar of Dr. Bane's lab coat. Bo was suspended similar to Lauren, unable to move at all, as was Bane. Zandra's wide eyes indicated that she had not yet experienced what Bo could offer.

"Some cavalry." To Lauren's surprise the Morrigan stepped out of what had once been Kenzi's room. "Let the human go, Vex. She is inconsequential."

Lauren prepared herself to be dropped, but was surprised when it didn't happen. Instead, Bo released her hold over Zandra, who stumbled slightly before catching herself. Zandra straightened and gave Bo a once over that would have killed her if human glares were that powerful. Now that she was capable of moving, Zandra made her way to where Lauren stood. Vex and the Morrigan watched, because even though they were here for business, they could not resist the chance to play with humans. It was an insufferable trait of the dark fae.

Lauren felt Zandra's hand trailing across her back as the other doctor walked a small circle around her. When she rounded the front again, her hand slid up beneath the shirts that Lauren wore, contacting bare skin. Lauren would never have thought herself capable of being revolted by the sexy little doctor, but she found she couldn't keep her skin from crawling. Powerlessness sucked.

Lauren looked up at Bo, locking eyes with the succubus. Bo's rage was clearly visible in the way her eyes narrowed. She kept her eyes on Bo as Zandra touched her, trying her best to ignore the sensation of the woman's breath on her neck as she nipped at Lauren's ear, hands still roaming beneath Lauren's shirt. Just as Zandra's fingers brushed the side of Lauren's breast, Vex found it amusing to freeze her again.

"Hey," Zandra said. "You promised I could play."

"Oh, don't pout little human. There will be plenty of time to play later. Being owned by the dark fae has its privileges as you are sure to learn shortly."

"I'm bored, Vexy. We have business to attend," the Morrigan moped. "I said release the human!" The Morrigan fixed Zandra with a pointed glare. "Play time is over. Go wait in the car."

"But—"

The lights dimmed as the Morrigan experienced displeasure. "Now!" Zandra went. The lights brightened again. A smile found its way to the Morrigan's face. "What are we going to do about this little situation, hmm, Vex?"

Vex stood between Bo and Lauren, arms outstretched, alternating his gaze from one woman to the next. "I could put on a show for you," he teased, but the Morrigan merely shook her head.

"That won't do. We have to take care of this mess," she pondered, "Perhaps another time." She walked up to Lauren and studied her. "The succubus has caused quite a situation here, Doctor." She swept a hand, indicating the humans scattered about the hall. Some of them had begun to stir. Lauren was relieved that Bo hadn't killed them. "We could help you… for a price."

Lauren wanted to answer, but was unable to. The Morrigan poked Vex. He grinned and Lauren was able to use her mouth again. She licked her lips and said, "What happened?"

The Morrigan rolled her eyes. "It seems the succubus has pissed off one of the dark. He went after her human. We heard about it from our newest addition, Dr. Bane. You know she's crazy. Humans and their fragile minds—so easily warped. I wonder what you did to that poor little creature to cause her to sell herself to the dark. Not that we don't appreciate it. She's almost as skilled as you."

Lauren struggled for an explanation and then decided she didn't owe one. She would have to think about Zandra's motivations later. For the time being, she held the Morrigan's gaze and tried desperately to figure out what to do with the situation at hand. "So this is actually your mess." The statement popped out. If she could have, she would have clamped her hand over her own mouth. No one back talked the Morrigan, especially a human.

To her surprise, the woman just laughed. "Okay, let's call it a half and half disaster. We didn't incapacitate the humans, but we can inspire them to forget all about it. I do admit, however, that it was our dark rogue that caused the issue in the first place." As if remembering that she was speaking to a lowly human, the Morrigan gestured to Vex and Lauren found that she could not speak again.

Turning from Lauren, the Morrigan advanced on Bo, who watched her with barely veiled hatred. "You are quite powerful, aren't you?" the Morrigan mused. "No match for my Mesmer, but powerful nonetheless. Impressive." A pointed look at Vex saw Bo released completely. Bo lunged, catching the Morrigan by the throat and lifting her clear into the air. The Morrigan's expression gave nothing away as she studied Bo. Then she laughed again, a delighted sound. "Oh, do be a good succubus and put me down." Her voice was strained, her airway partially obstructed.

Bo responded by shaking the woman slightly. A fleeting expression of pain crossed the Morrigan's face before she managed to school it again. Vex watched the affair, waiting for his cue. When it didn't come, he shrugged, glancing at Lauren with an amused smile on his face as if to say he was enjoying the show. "Where is Kenzi!"

"Put. Me. Down. Now." Bo seemed to realize who she was holding aloft. She clenched her teeth and let go. The Morrigan landed gracefully. They glared at one another before Bo had the good sense to recognize that she was outmatched. She baulked only slightly. The Morrigan took it as an acknowledgement of her superior power, which Lauren thought may have been the only thing that saved Bo. "Do we have an agreement?"

"No."

The Morrigan raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "Interesting. Well, Vex, I suppose we can leave these two to sort this out. And you had better sort it out, my dear. Or I will clean it up with your hide." She walked around Bo and straight up to Lauren. "The Ash will hear about this little adventure, human."

Vex didn't release Lauren until they had been gone a few moments. When he did, her legs gave out and she crumpled to the floor. She planted both hands and lifted herself as Bo scrambled to her side, gripping her arms in assistance.

"Are you all right?" Bo asked, distractedly. Lauren didn't respond to the question, knowing at that moment that Bo was not the least bit focused on her wellbeing.

She covered her lover's hand and tried to sound optimistic. "We'll find her, Bo."

- x -


	17. Chapter 17

- x -

The darkness was overwhelming. Kenzi had awoken to nothing but blackness that washed over her so completely she wondered if she had opened her eyes at all. Being a part of Bo's life had made summoning bravery a fairly common thing for Kenzi, but she struggled now. Her breathing came in rapid erratic bursts, causing pain to shoot in every direction. Instead of fighting with the fear, Kenzi merely focused on controlling the heaving of her chest. Eventually she managed to regulate her breathing enough to ease the pain and as a consequence was able to quell her panic.

Kenzi lay still, listening intently. Without sight as her primary sensory input, her hearing took over and became sensitive enough that she could hear her own pulse. After she trained herself to ignore the pumping of blood through her body, somewhere she heard dripping water. It sounded like a minute splash landing in what she imagined to be a standing pool of stagnant algae filled grossness. Using her good hand, Kenzi felt along the ground. She imagined the uneven texture to be concrete. It felt cold, damp and entirely too unwelcoming to the touch.

Thoughts of being trapped in this place indefinitely crept around the fringes of her consciousness, threatening her hard-won calm. She resisted fear and thought about Bo. A smile turned the corners of her mouth up. Bo was the best thing that had ever happened to Kenzi. The succubus had all kinds of strength, but it was almost as if she wasn't aware of the entirety of her power. Kenzi imagined, having met plenty of other Fae in her adventures with Bo, it had much to do with the fact that Bo had been raised by normal, powerless humans. Bo had been loved and cared for without any notion of what she would become when she came of age. It was a simplistic, ordinary upbringing that had been destroyed the first time Bo slept with her human boyfriend, absorbing so much of his sexual chi that his life had been extinguished. Terrified and alone, Bo had panicked and run. She had been alone ever since, fighting a deadly, unexplained hunger and forced to move from city to city every time she was compelled to give in to her desires.

Bo had saved Kenzi. She had been drugged and had come very close to being victim of a sexual predator. Kenzi could still remember his face, the blue and gray mottling that had spread over it when Bo had finished with him. As it turned out, the man had himself become prey to a predator far more dangerous.

For all her awesome power, Bo was still one of the most caring people Kenzi had ever met. She had her own problems, but they never got in the way of doing what she perceived to be the right thing to do. The succubus was a font of courageousness that Kenzi constantly drew heroism from. Bo inspired her to be a better person.

While laying prone on cold, jarring concrete, Kenzi held herself together. She was determined to survive until one of two things happened: she managed to escape, or Bo came for her. And Bo would come for her. Of that there was no doubt.

- x -

"What is that?"

Lauren didn't look up. She was crouched over one of the five humans Bo had made prostrate. The woman she had been about to inject was mumbling incoherently. Lauren swabbed the woman's arm, jabbed the needle as gently as she could into the muscle tissue before depressing the plunger.

"It's a little something I created from Xanax. One of the side effects of the anti-anxiety drug is short-term memory loss. I modified it for use in situations like this when having a Fae alter memories is not possible. It just amplifies the memory loss effects of the drug while undermining any other effects."

"You can do that?"

Lauren laughed. "Do you know who I am?" Her voice was full of mock pompousness.

"My hero!" Bo said.

Lauren flushed. She liked to hear Bo say that. But she sobered quickly as she moved to the next patient. "What happened here, Bo?"

The succubus had the wherewithal to look ashamed. "I lost control. A little."

"I can see that, Bo. But that is unlike you. I know you walk a very thin line when it comes to your abilities, but…" she spread her hands, "this is a lot, even for you. And 'a little' is a very large understatement."

"I'm only human—" Bo stopped when Lauren gave her a sharp look; she often slipped and used phrases that no longer qualified her. "I mean, look, it just happened. I found out Kenzi was gone—that she had been taken and I started to see red. Before I even knew what I was doing I had lost control and was succubus-ing everyone in order to get information. I was just about to, uhm, ask Zandra… uh, nicely when the Morrigan and her little pet showed up. Speaking of Zandra, what the hell is the deal with her?"

Lauren stiffened. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I thought you trusted her."

"I did, Bo! How was I supposed to know she'd sold herself to the Dark?"

"How did she even know about the dark fae?"

Lauren shrugged. "I don't know. We also don't have time to contemplate that right now. Help me move these people. I don't want them all to wake up in the hall; it will cause them to ask more questions."

They injected the rest of the groggy people, repositioned them throughout the clinic in the hopes that they would wake up, shake their heads and carry about their business without speaking to one another about the strange episode.

By the time they had finished, it was well after ten in the morning. Lauren drove while Bo called Dyson and filled him in on what was happening. Lauren could hear as Dyson cursed seven ways to Sunday so loud that Bo had to hold the phone away from her ear. Bo agreed to meet Dyson and Hale at the Dal Riata so they could figure out what to do next and to possibly enlist Trick's assistance.

Lauren shifted gears, pushing hard on the gas. As reserved as she was in all other areas of her life, Lauren had always been a bit of a speed demon. The only concession she ever made for herself after joining the Light Fae had been to buy herself a sleek black Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. It was a beast and she loved it. She glanced at Bo to see the succubus staring at her with a lusty expression on her face. When Lauren winked at her, Bo swallowed hard and said, "That's hot."

- x -


	18. Chapter 18

- x -

The Dal was quiet except for a few youthful fae who populated the pool table in the corner. Every so often one would let out an excited whoop about a well-made shot, but for the most part they were not a disturbance to the three gentlemen who hovered agitatedly at the bar.

Hale's hands shook as he lifted the luke-warm tea he'd been nursing for the past fifteen minutes. He tried his best to hide his anxiety from Dyson, although he was certain the shifter could smell it oozing from his pores. If Dyson knew how twisted up Hale felt, he didn't call him on it for which Hale was grateful.

The thing was that Hale hadn't expected to have this kind of reaction to Kenzi's disappearance. Even when she had been injured, he had seen with his own eyes that she was alive and at least reparable, so the effect had been less dramatic. He had known that Bo would do her best to care for the young human and Hale had been able to shelve whatever feelings had startlingly crept up. But this, this was different.

He wanted to refuse to acknowledge his feelings for Kenzi, but the more he thought about what kind of danger the human could be in, the worse it got and the more incredibly inconvenient his emotions became. This was the worst possible thing he could imagine. Under no circumstances was a fae to ever have feelings for a human. He had been a staunch supporter of this rule, having seen lives destroyed in its breaking. He had never expected to be a victim himself.

Kenzi. The charismatic, fearless little woman had captured Hale's heart from the first time he'd met her. It was a prickly reality that he was determined never would see the light of day. Taking a deep breath, Hale steadied his hands and busted out his best poker face. Just in time, it would seem. Bo stormed into the bar; Lauren trailing behind looked hard pressed to match the succubus' stride.

Bo's presence seemed to suck the air out of the room. Hale had seen her angry before, but this was something else entirely. Even the teeny-boppers found an excuse to make themselves scarce, despite the multitude of balls remaining on the table. The air fairly crackled with Bo's displeasure. Given Trick's wide-eyed expression, Hale knew they had discovered something new about Bo—something no one could identify.

"Bo," Lauren said, putting a hand on Bo's shoulder as she came to a halt before them.

Her name spoken with Lauren's calm, affectionate tone settled the woman ever so slightly and Hale felt he was able to breathe just a little bit easier. He was grateful the doctor was there and noted the changes in their demeanors toward one another. Despite his inner turmoil, he was happy for Lauren. Bo hadn't chosen a side, leaving her open to choose a human consort if she wished. It seemed that Lauren had finally gotten through the succubus' thick defenses.

The changes didn't go unnoticed by Dyson, either, who shifted in his chair and fisted his beer, taking a deep pull. His shoulders jerked straight and his jaw tightened as he swallowed. Hale could definitely feel the jealousy pouring off the wolf. He allowed himself a moment to contemplate the crazy dynamic. The shifter was most definitely monogamous and mated for life, and given what Hale was seeing, Dyson had very strong feelings for Bo. But the succubus by her very nature reviled exclusivity. He was sure Bo had equally intense feelings for both the doctor and the shifter. That was bound to be an extreme mess that Hale did not relish dealing with in the future.

He was snapped out of his reverie when Bo addressed Trick, filling him in on the situation with Kenzi with clipped, barely restrained rage colouring her explanation.

"Oh," Trick said.

"Do you have any idea who would do such a thing?" Bo demanded.

"Think hard, Bo. Who have you pissed off recently?"

Bo gave him a dark look. "Trick, it's a daily occurrence to upset someone. I think my very existence upsets someone somewhere. Anyway, the Morrigan said he was a dark. I don't recall crossing paths with any dark fae recently."

"Maybe you did so inadvertently."

"And these two said you would be helpful," Bo muttered, gesturing to Hale and Dyson. Trick didn't bother to acknowledge her testy remark, taking it for what it was: misdirected frustration. Bo felt powerless and was taking it out on the nearest target.

"What if the person isn't really after you, Bo? Kenzi has a habit of, uh, liberating things from people in her travels. Maybe she took something from someone…?" Hale hated bringing up Kenzi's kleptomania, but it was a valid observation.

Trick and Dyson watched, waiting for Bo to consider. She shook her head. "No. I made her promise she would quit stealing. Even if she broke that promise, which I doubt, I can't imagine she would have taken something so important as to warrant this kind of reaction. And to steal from the Dark? She knows better. There has to be something we are missing."

Hale watched as Bo shifted through her emotions. She had gone from cranked right up with righteous anger, to quailing as the others suggested increasingly unlikely scenarios. She, Trick and Dyson were currently hashing over Bo's recent endeavors, but something else had grabbed Hale's attention.

Lauren, who had been listening intently to the conversation, had drifted further down the bar and was now bent over her cell phone, a carefully masked expression blanketing her features. If Hale had been less of a detective, he would not have recognized it as anguish. She finished reading, and then glanced in their direction. Hale made it look as though he were engrossed in Bo's conversation, so that Lauren wouldn't see that he had been watching her.

To his surprise, Lauren slipped from her chair and quickly, but surprisingly stealthily exited the bar. If the others hadn't been so distracted, he was sure she wouldn't have made it far. Hale excused himself, claiming he needed to get some fresh air, and followed Lauren out the door.

- x -


	19. Chapter 19

- x -

Lauren dropped the car into second gear and threw the wheel violently to the right, thankful that the car handled like a dream as she executed the insanely tight turn. No one in their right mind took turns down city streets at eighty kilometers an hour, but Lauren was currently not in her right mind. The ass end of the car swung out slightly, but she recovered quickly and shoved it into third, rapidly follow by fourth. Soon she was rocketing down the street at a hundred and twenty. She prayed she didn't get pulled over, although she knew that she would employ the leftover memory-loss drug on the cop if she did. Contingency plans were one of her strong points. It was just too bad she hadn't thought of one for this situation.

She could feel the blood pulsing in her cheeks, fury heating them until they were uncomfortable and tight. She felt as though the top of her head might pop off, her blood was boiling so much. She didn't have a contingency plan because she hadn't thought about the situation in years, not since—no, not in years.

It had happened when she first joined the Ash, when she did anything and everything he asked. She was so thrilled to be experiencing everything he offered her and so awed by the Fae and their world that she had jumped at the chance to indulge in more of it. It had been her first real brush with the tenuous relations between the light and dark and the Ash had approached her, almost mournfully, and asked her if she would assist. At the time she hadn't really contemplated the complications that could arise from his proposal; she had merely jumped at the chance to show her gratification.

The light had packaged her up and sent her off to the Congo again, where she had originally met the Fae and been given unparalleled opportunities and support for her research. She had been uncomfortable to be back in the rainforest again, but tried to keep the memories and unfinished business compartmentalized in the back of her mind in order to allow her to focus on her new objective. Lauren had needed the Ash and his medical facilities, so she had been determined to do the best she could in the face of her discomfort.

The Ash had personally filled her in on what was required of her. There were two tribes of fae, one light and one dark, living near a human village. The tribes had been fighting over the human village. The dark had nearly depleted the supply of humans and the light railed against them, fearing for their own existence if their source of nourishment were to be lost. Extinguishing entire human populations was also in direct violation of fae ethics. Although, Lauren would eventually learn that "fae" and "ethics" rarely coincided harmoniously.

Lauren had been sent to Dark with an offer of assistance. When she had first met the Ash, his tribe had been suffering from an incurable epidemic. She had heard of the suffering of the villagers and had gone to assist, if she could. What she found when she reached the Ash's tribe was beyond her wildest dreams, but she had been able to help them come up with a treatment. The Ash had apparently not shared the discovery with the dark, preferring to keep it for his own people. She was to offer the treatment and teach the troublesome dark tribe basic medical practices in exchange for their agreement to cease terrorizing the humans and to coexist with the light tribe.

It had seemed a simple enough task while standing in the Ash's compound. Upon arriving in the Congo, however, Lauren found out how much more difficult it would be. The leader of the dark had taken one look at her and ordered his minions to imprison her. She had not been mistreated, the dark feared the wrath of the Ash far too much for that, but she had not been allowed to move freely, either. Negotiations did not occur and Lauren learned what it meant to be on the receiving end of unrequited love.

It had taken the Ash a month to extract her and even then it had been under dire circumstances. He had made it clear to the Morrigan that the dark tribe had overstepped their bounds and needed extermination. Given the situation, the Morrigan agreed and carried out the sentence herself. To this day, Lauren still thought the Morrigan had taken immense pleasure in killing the tribe.

Lauren shook her head to clear the unwanted images that bounded within her skull, but it was easier said than done. The email she had received at the Dal had made it all come crashing back. He had somehow survived and was here, now. He had been watching her, he said, tracking her. He would take from her that which she loved most, and watch as her world crumbled around her. Whatever sick and twisted plan he had, Lauren suspected that he had taken Kenzi in order to bring it to fruition.

- x -


	20. Chapter 20

- x -

Hale followed Lauren at a discrete distance. It had been difficult to keep up with her as she navigated the city streets because, like it or not, his unmarked police Charger just couldn't match her Evo. Being accustomed to tailing suspects had made that a non-issue, and now he watched as she vaulted out of the car after barely parking it. She moved with a frightened determination, checking frequently over her shoulder. Feeling like a jerk for hiding his presence, Hale kept to the shadows. He needed to see what the Doc was up to because he had the uneasy sensation that it had something to do with Kenzi's disappearance.

Lauren took them through a maze of dirty streets before ending up outside an abandoned movie theater. Hale watched as she glanced around and then dodged down the alley next to the theatre. He waited a few moments before following her. When he entered the alley, Lauren was nowhere to be seen and he experienced a rare moment of panic.

"Oh." Lauren's voice drifted to his ears from somewhere behind him. He turned to see her dropping a length of pipe to her side, letting it dangle loosely from her fingertips. "It's you. Hale, what the hell are you doing here?"

He studied her for a moment. He sometimes found himself misjudging the good Doctor because of her easy-going nature and pleasant, almost self-conscious demeanor, forgetting about her vast intelligence. He made a mental note never to underestimate her again. "I could ask you the same thing, Lauren," he said. She led him on a wild goose chase and he wanted to know why, now more than ever.

He watched her work through several explanations before finally shutting down and shaking her head. "Don't get involved, Hale," she muttered. She moved to start away, turned back. "Why were you following me?"

He shrugged. "Call it cop intuition. You started sketching out at the Dal and it made me suspicious. So tell me, why did you sneak out?"

Lauren tightened her fist around the pipe she held and set her jaw. "I can't tell you, Hale. I'm sorry. I wish I could."

"You had better start talking, Doctor. I have methods of persuasion and I don't have to make them pleasant." He hated threatening her. He liked Lauren. He considered her a friend. But really, did friends withhold information that could potentially help another friend?

He noticed her eyes narrowing, knew she was distancing herself emotionally, and put up his hands. "I'm sorry, Lauren. I'm a little freaked out about Kenzi's disappearance. If you know something, anything at all, you have to tell me, please." His voice cracked slightly and he hated it for betraying him. But she was looking at him intently now, differently, as though suddenly she understood. It melted her standoffishness. She sighed, her shoulders slumping. She checked behind her again, out of habit, he thought.

"All right I'll tell you, but not here."

"What are you afraid of?"

"Hale, come on."

They made their way back to their cars, Lauren silently freaking out the entire way, setting Hale's nerves on edge, too. She invited him to join her in the Evo and when he obliged she tore out of the parking lot and drove to the opposite end of town, where she drifted sideways into a parking spot outside a well-lit café. Hale had never been as white knuckled, nor as impressed on account of someone else's driving. The doctor was all about precision and it showed even behind the wheel.

"You're a maniac," he muttered.

She shot him a smug smile. "I have so little satisfaction in my life, Hale. Driving gives me that."

"Fast and furious. God damn."

She rolled her eyes. "Jealous?"

"You wish."

She laughed and got out of the car, while he muttered further expletives under his breath and finally followed her in. She ordered them coffee and led him to a booth at the very back of the establishment. She settled down, took a delicate sip of the piping hot coffee, screwed up her face as her tongue burned. "I always do that. I have to drink it while it's hot, but I always pay the price."

She babbled a little longer about her coffee drinking habits and Hale let her, admittedly a little amused at seeing another side of the doctor. Mostly he was just allowing her to settle her nerves because despite how she tried to hide it, she was definitely still frightened and messed up about whatever was going on.

Eventually, her voice trailed off and she looked up at him, blinking. "Sorry. I tend to, uh, talk a lot when I'm nervous. Or upset."

"It's okay," Hale said, reaching over the table and taking one of her hands. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

She blew out a breath and fidgeted a bit with her coffee cup before taking another sip. "I think I know who has Kenzi, Hale."

He sat back, fixing her with his best _I'm being patient, but you better spill the beans_ look. He used it on suspects all the time, with similar results. She told him everything about her return to the Congo and the issues with the Fae tribes, her capture and consequent detainment, the Ash's rescue, and the Morrigan's punishment of the Dark Fae.

"His name is Lokee. I don't even know how he escaped the Morrigan's wrath."

Hale lowered his face into his hands and scrubbed fervently. He dropped them and fixed her with a pointed gaze. "What were you thinking, Lauren? Why wouldn't you tell Bo about this?"

"She just started talking to me again, do you think she could ever forgive me if she found out _I_ was the reason Kenzi was injured and taken? I don't even know how I am going to forgive myself."

"What I'd like to know is how you could possibly believe this is your fault."

"I just… I don't know, Hale."

"All right, settle down, little lady, I got your back. We can work this out together."

"How?"

"Uhm, first give me a little more background on this Lokee guy."

- x -


	21. Chapter 21

- x -

Kenzi jerked awake, freezing water splashing her face. She groaned and raised a hand to wipe her dripping eyes. She winced as she backhanded the water away before attempting to open them. She cracked one eye open first, seeing a booted foot before her. The boot was up to the top of its rubber sole in water, making Kenzi realize that she was also lying in the water. With this awareness came the uncontrollable shivering of fear.

"You awaken." There was an amused tone to the voice. It was a distinctly male voice-a familiar voice.

Kenzi said nothing, her teeth clenched tight to fight off the chattering. She didn't want to have a conversation with her captor, but she did force herself to look up. She fought the urge to cringe when she saw the man's face. It shifted back and forth between different features. She watched his nose change shapes, eyes change colour, lips become fuller. Eventually they settled on one visage and Kenzi did shrink away then. It was the man who was supposed to take her for X-Rays. He and Doctor Bane had moved her onto a gurney, but instead of having X-Rays, Kanzi had woken here, in the dark on the cold stone floor, with nothing but blackness to accompany her.

"Now that you're awake, I am going to give you something to keep you lucid. I want her to see the terror in your eyes as you die, human." The last word was spit out with such vehemence that Kenzi thought the guy must be wearing it.

She shook her head disbelievingly, unable to wrap her brain around what he was saying. "What did Bo ever do to you?" she whispered.

"Bo?" He barked a laugh. "You little fool, this isn't about the succubus!"

"But who—?"

"Do not speak to me again, Sushi."

Before he exited the room, slamming the door tight behind him, he darted forward and jabbed her with a quick-release needle. She yelped and grabbed her arm where it had bit her.

"The name is Kenzi!" she yelled at him, "Not Sushi!"

At least he left the lights on. Kenzi could finally get a good look at her surroundings. She was indeed sitting on a concrete floor, with a large drain in the center. There was one exit, the door the shifty-faced Fae had exited through and one very large window, which looked to be sealed exceptionally well. When Kenzi looked up, she saw Dr. Zandra Bane standing beyond the window, glancing in. She had a hand over her mouth and her eyes glittered excitedly behind her glasses. Noticing Kenzi's attention, the Doctor wiggled the fingers of her other hand in a creepy mockery of a hello.

She didn't have time to contemplate the Doctor's odd behavior because behind her she realized that the slow dripping she had heard before had turned into more of a frantic gushing. She turned to see a pipe that was running down the opposite wall had been opened to allow a large flood of water to begin filling the room.

"Oh crap!" Getting out of here on her own was now out of the question, and surviving until Bo rescued her just became a hell of a lot more difficult.

- x -

Lauren brought the car to a stop. "You sure about this, Hale?" she asked, not bothering to look at her unlikely sidekick.

"You bet, Doc. I gotta admit, you got a huge set of balls. You wanted to go against this… freak on your own?" Lauren stayed silent, staring at the steering wheel. She gripped it tight, knuckles turning white. "Holy fuck! Lauren, you were going to trade yourself, weren't you? He'd get you in exchange for Kenzi." He reached out and gripped her shoulder, turning her towards him. She saw a fleeting look of respect in his eyes, before it was replaced by a whole pile of anger. "Surely you're smarter than that! From what you've told me of this guy, he wouldn't have let Kenzi go. How do you think Bo would feel if he ended up with the both of you? Goddamn it, Lauren."

She dropped her gaze, ashamed at not having come up with a better plan. It frustrated her to no end that she was merely human and could not possibly have any effect on the Fae world. How many times would she have to sacrifice herself to protect the ones she loved? She was beginning to tire of the merry-go-round. She wanted off. If she had any shot at trading herself for Kenzi, she would have taken it. Hale's unexpected arrival had brought her chances of survival up, but not by much. She had warned him how dangerous this would be for him, but he had insisted that he knew the risks and was willing to take them.

"Well, you screwed that plan up, so hopefully yours is better."

"Of course it is. It's a classic trick. Use you as bait to distract, while I swoop in and save the day."

Lauren couldn't help the nervous laugh that burst out of her. "We're both idiots, Hale."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I guess if I gotta meet my end, I might as well do it trying to do the right thing."

She fixed him with a serious look. "You've got it bad, Hale. Really bad."

He looked like he wanted to deny it, but instead he lowered his voice. "No one can ever know, Lauren. No one. Ever. Kenzi will be in so much danger if anyone ever knew."

"Not to mention you. You must know what they'll do to you."

"Don't remind me, lady. I've been fighting it since I realized how I felt, but… fuck—they say you can't help who you love, but this… this is messed up. I must have pissed off a Fate, or something."

"If we get out of this in one piece, you have my word. No one will hear of it from me."

Hale gave her arm an appreciative squeeze then took a deep breath and opened his car door. "Let's do this." He closed the door behind him and disappeared into the darkness. Lauren took one more look at his retreating form, then licked her seriously dry lips and picked up her cell phone with shaking fingers. She dialed the number she had been given, a sickness twisting in the lowest parts of her belly.

"I'm here," she managed, barely able to make her mouth say the words around the saliva that had begun to pool inside it. She snapped the phone shut, hastily opened her car door and promptly vomited on the street.

- x -


	22. Chapter 22

- x -

Lauren had never liked her limbs to be restricted so it went without saying that wearing a straightjacket had her positively leaping out of her skin with discomfort. She wondered how Lokee knew her most base inner fears. She knew her eyes were rounded with fright and that her breathing was heavy. She didn't try to control her body's reactions; instead she welcomed them and played them up. If he thought he had absolute control over her he would be off guard, which could possibly leave her an opening however small.

She was shoved from behind. The tusked Fae who had wrestled her into the straight jacket grunted. Lauren realized she had stopped walking and forced her legs to move again. She was lead to a small room that had walls dressed in red velvet. Arranged in a half circle throughout the room were overstuffed chairs with matching ottomans and a black leather couch. At the far end of the room something was hidden behind a set of rich, black curtains. Ambient light was provided by tiny soft white bulbs strung in strands around the room.

Lauren had the odd thought that she had been brought into the stomach of a beast. Some screwed up part of her brain plastered a goofy smile on her face. She couldn't fight it off, either. Before she knew it, her whole body was shaking with uncontrollable laughter. It was the strangest reaction she would have expected herself to have when faced with undue stress.

Her laughter stopped abruptly as the Fae who had been herding her shoved her backwards into one of the chairs. Afterwards, he snorted and disappeared from the room. She sat in discomfort, trying not to think about not being able to move her arms. If she struggled even a little bit, the jacket would constrict further and she couldn't risk that.

"Ah, Lauren, my darling, you have returned to me!" Lokee had appeared at the door and was leaning against the frame, a charming smile on his face. He was dressed in a tailored tuxedo, complete with bow-tie and cummerbund. "It has been far too long."

Lauren was stunned at the sight of him. The years had not been kind to the Fae. Or more accurately, the Fae had not been kind to himself. He still managed to dress well, but there was gauntness about him. His normally impeccable brown hair was longer than she remembered and unkempt. It might have been considered stylish by some, but Lauren had the feeling it had more to do with his gradual decline into madness. He had changed, subtly, but her practiced eye for detail noticed. It did not bode well for her predicament.

"This isn't a social call, Lokee. You have something that doesn't belong to you," Lauren said, struggling to maintain her composure while her body screamed at her to fight, or run— do anything.

"Yes, I finally have you."

Lauren stared. Hard. She tried to focus every seething ounce of hatred into her expression. Even if he managed to keep her, she would never make it easy for him, never give in. She would never be one of those captives who eventually came to love and respect their captors.

"We have her, you mean." Another player advanced into the room. It was Zandra Bane, dressed in a gauzy white dress. She glided around Lokee, did a small twirl that caused the dress to swirl out at the bottom. "Good to see you again, Doctor."

If Lauren thought she could control herself enough to manipulate Lokee, she realized that she was in serious trouble. Zandra complicated things. She was a wild card that Lauren had no idea how to deal with. "Zandra, what are you doing?" she hissed.

Zandra plunked herself on the arm of Lauren's chair. She touched Lauren's hair and began to twirl it between her fingers. It took every ounce of power Lauren had not to cringe away. Zandra avoided the question. She whispered, "I've missed you," into Lauren's ear, her breath hot. It made Lauren nauseous again. She closed her eyes.

When she could speak, she said, "I thought you were over me?"

Zandra's face became a mask of dark fury. "You dumped me for that photographer bitch and then you jumped on a plane bound for the Congo and disappeared from my life until a year ago. You expected me to find closure in that? I lied to you, just like you lied to me."

_You are crazy_, Lauren wanted to say. The Morrigan had it right. Instead she said, "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"You've hurt a lot of people, Lauren. How do you think Lokee and I found each other? He followed the trail of broken hearts."

Lauren narrowed her eyes at that. _Trail of broken hearts? _The absurdity of it would have made her laugh again if not for the seriousness with which Zandra had proclaimed it. When Lauren didn't speak, Zandra waved her hand. "No matter. Lokee has something special planned for you." She tugged Lauren's hair gently. "And then he says I can have my turn!"

"Come now, Zandra. Let me have a moment with Lauren in privacy. You will have all the time in the world when I am through with her," Lokee said, holding out his hand. Sweetness dripped from his tongue and Zandra appeared to be putty in his fingers. She gave Lauren an odd, childlike curtsy and then skipped out of the room.

"That explains a lot," Lauren muttered beneath her breath.

"I have come to understand why you rebuffed my advances when last we were together," Lokee said. He had not moved from just inside the door. "It is abhorrent."

"Of course it is."

"My entire village was destroyed because of you, Lauren Lewis," a hardness crept into his voice and his eyes glazed over as he spoke, staring not at her but beyond her, possibly into memories of the past, "I loved you, offered you everything, and would have made you a queen!"

She wanted to argue. She wanted to ask him how he could possibly love her; she wanted to remind him it was against Fae rules to love a human. But none of these arguments would make him see reason. She was growing increasingly weary of crazy people. Finally, she just said, "Where is Kenzi?"

He laughed, then, perhaps the most pleasant thing about him. It startled her, a little, that pleasant laugh. "Oh, wait and see." He ducked back out into the hall, making a gesture at someone Lauren couldn't see. When he returned, he made his way to the couch that was next to Lauren's chair and lowered gracefully into it. "You should relax and enjoy the show. It will be very entertaining."

- x -


	23. Chapter 23

- x -

"Anonymous tip, my ass," Bo growled under her breath as she stalked through the back alley, viciously kicking garbage out of her way. By the time she, Dyson and Trick had noticed that Lauren and Hale were no longer with them at the Dal, it had been too late to discover where they had gone. Dyson had even tried to sniff out their trail, but Hale was good at covering his tracks, knowing Dyson's weaknesses.

What Bo couldn't figure out is why Hale would later call the Dal to tell them where he and Lauren had gone. Trick had said the caller wouldn't identify themselves, but Bo would wager it had been Hale. Perhaps he had first wanted to assess the situation. That sounded reasonable to Bo, given Hale's personality.

She kicked another can. She wasn't as upset with Hale as she was with Lauren. How many times would that woman betray her before Bo learned her lesson? If Lauren had known where Kenzi was, she should have told Bo. Bo seethed, coming to a stop in front of a locked and boarded door. This was where Hale had said they would find Lauren, and hopefully Kenzi. Bo took a deep breath and backed up.

"Bo? What are you do—" Dyson's protest was cut off as Bo powered forward, throwing her shoulder against the door, splintering it into a dozen pieces that exploded into the building. "So much for subtle entrances!" he hissed.

Bo glared at him, rubbing her shoulder. If it hurt through the anger she was feeling, she knew she probably wouldn't be able to move her arm in the morning, but none of that mattered. She would use her anger to fuel her. She would find Kenzi and Lauren and then deal with each. Bo would take Kenzi home and guard her until she healed.

Lauren was a different story. Bo had thought they were getting better with their issues. She had been vulnerable in front of Lauren, again, but the Doctor was still keeping her damned secrets. What was Bo supposed to do with that? How was she supposed to react? She wasn't even sure. She supposed she would deal with their immediate predicament and sort out the fallout later. In the meantime, fury seemed to work to her advantage. It made her feel strong, in control and it fought back her doubts and fears. Convenient.

Dyson seemed to know enough not to get in her way, even though she could tell he wanted to slow her down, make her more cautious. But Bo had never been one for caution when those she loved were in danger. The only practical voice that had once slowed her down enough and made her reason clearly was Lauren's, but that was gone now and Bo was being driven by her need to do, not think.

The succubus stormed down the abandoned hallway, checking room by room as they passed, and sweeping quickly in the whirlwind storm that she had become. Her blood pulsed in her cheeks as indignation suffused throughout her. She was operating under an illusion of invincibility and she knew it, but refused to acknowledge that she really was destructible. If she were weak it would mean there was a chance to fail Kenzi and she couldn't allow that.

"Bo!"

In her haste, Bo had missed a door. Dyson had opened it and was now standing within the frame, a horrified look on his face.

- x -

The loud bang startled Lauren. She looked up to see the door had been opened to its widest and had crashed against the adjacent wall. Her heart soared when she saw Dyson standing in it, but she felt her stomach drop when he surveyed the room and she saw his expression change as his gaze fell on the curtained area. He looked mortified.

She surged to her feet. "Dyson!" she cried.

Soft laughter reached her ears. "He cannot see or hear you, my love." She watched as Dyson went back to the door and hollered for Bo. When Bo exploded into the room and then stopped dead in her tracks, Lauren knew something horrible was wrong.

"Bo…" she whispered, but it was true, neither Dyson nor Bo acknowledged her presence. Before Lauren could process further, Bo became a flurry of movement. She flew at the curtained wall. Both fists were raised and Bo was pounding on the wall in a crazed frenzy.

"Help me, Dyson!" the succubus screamed.

Lokee came to his feet, a satisfied smile on his face. He strode to the wall and ripped the curtains down. When Lauren saw what they had been hiding, she gasped and backed away tripping over the chair she had been sitting in and sprawling to the floor.

Behind the curtains had been a window which showcased a special room. Inside it, Kenzi stood up to her armpits in water which was rapidly rising. She was slowly turning in a circle, her eyes wide with fear but obviously struggling not to panic completely while she searched for some way out.

"Stop it, Lokee! Please!" Lauren begged. "I will do anything you ask. Please, don't do this!"

"Oh, I think not," Lokee said. He stooped to drag Lauren to her feet. "You will watch as Bo's world is ripped apart, Lauren."

"Why?" She couldn't help how strangled the word became.

"Because you will know what it is like to lose everything you have loved. Bo will despise you for the rest of her life for your hand in this."

Lauren closed her eyes, listening as Bo and Dyson smashed against the glass, attempting to break it. Eventually the noise of their pounding stopped and Lauren looked up. Bo had stopped and was now searching the room for something to help them break the window. Dyson mumbled something about trying to find the door into the room and disappeared out into the hallway. Lauren could almost swear Bo's gaze had rested on her more than once, but she had to have been imagining it because the succubus still didn't register her presence.

Something inside Lauren snapped as she turned her attention to Lokee and saw his satisfied expression. He was enjoying this, the sadistic bastard. She swayed on her feet only slightly before solidifying her balance. When he winked at her, she ground her teeth together and lunged at him. He easily sidestepped her haphazard attempt and her shoulder crashed against the wall. She grunted in pain, staggered slightly before renewing her attack.

Lauren was no match for Lokee. He merely caught her around the waist and held her body tight against his. "That is enough, Doctor."

She began to cry, tears of anger and frustration. She sagged, barely able to keep her feet. She had never loathed herself as much as she did in that moment. She hated being a weak, powerless human. More than that, Lauren realized that she hated the Fae.

- x -


	24. Chapter 24

- x -

Time slowed to a crawl for Bo as she searched the room for anything that might break the window. She could feel panic crowding the fringes of her barely controlled calm, trying to jostle its way into her psyche and pounce, making her lose what little discipline she had left. She stopped just long enough to take a deep breath to try to reorder and refocus her thoughts, but she noticed something odd.

There was a slight blurring of darkness within the room. It moved, disappeared. Reappeared and blurred and disappeared again. But now that Bo was looking for it, she focused, narrowing her eyes, realizing instantaneously that she recognized the phenomena.

What she was seeing were auras. There were two, both very well-masked and almost completely imperceptible. And one of them Bo would recognize anywhere. Lauren was here in this very room, but Bo couldn't see her. Given the previous movements of the auras, and now the close proximity of them, the succubus could guess that Lauren had been struggling with whomever the second aura belonged to.

Trying to appear as though she were still frantically searching the room, Bo made her way around the dark blurs. She was taking a gamble when she pivoted rapidly and reached out curling an arm around what she hoped was the throat of a person.

She knew she had hit her mark when she heard the strangled sound. Bo quickly spun the person around and slammed him bodily into the wall. Without so much as a second thought, Bo brought her lips to the stranger's and gave him her sweetest, chi siphoning kiss.

- x -

Lauren stumbled as Lokee no longer supported her. Around her the furniture and velvety walls dissolved, slowly burning away to be replaced by a cold feeling, cinder-block walled room. Lauren righted herself and looked around, immediately spotting Bo. The succubus was holding Lokee still by his throat while she drained his chi. Lauren watched in morbid curiosity as a grand smile spread over his face and he became weaker and weaker. Bo's eyes blazed the most amazing blue that Lauren had ever seen. In that moment she was almost too beautiful to behold.

When she had drained him, Bo dropped his body and turned, rubbing the back of her hand across her lips as though trying to remove some unseen filth. She grimaced and wrinkled her nose before spotting Lauren and stopping all motion. For a moment Lauren almost thought Bo would try to take her too, but then the blue faded from her eyes and her expression turned cold as she regarded the doctor.

Bo said nothing when she reached Lauren's side, just roughly turned her and began to work the buckles that secured Lauren's arms immobile. Lauren couldn't find her voice and she suspected that Bo didn't want to hear anything she might have had to say anyway. She dropped her chin to her chest, suffering an immense feeling of loss when Bo withdrew.

It didn't matter, she tried to tell herself. She was just going to have to deal with that among the other things that she had recently discovered about herself, not the least of which was her loathing for the Fae. That one had slammed her with full force and would require hours of introspection if she were to be able to function again in her capacity as a doctor for the light. As if she needed more internal turmoil. Although in reality, she knew she would actually have to stuff those feelings back into a tiny box and bury it as deep as she possibly could, never to think on them again. She owed the Ash—she had an agreement with him that she would not break for anything.

Her reverie broke when she heard Bo's frustrated wail. The succubus was back at the window again; fingers splayed out against glass. Kenzi stood on the other side, her hand would have been touching Bo's if not for the glass that separated them. The water was now up to Kenzi's chin and Lauren could see fat tears streaming down the other human's cheeks, black streaks of mascara adding to the macabre of the scene.

- x -

Hale followed Dr. Zandra Bane. She moved robotically through the corridor without any interest in anything that was going on around her. She seemed to be on a mission. At first he had tried to be stealthy, but it didn't take him long to realize that he could probably walk next to her holding her hand and she wouldn't know he was there.

He was using his amusement at her odd behavior as a way of staving off his fears. He was accustomed to feeling freaked out in unknown situations where he did not have the upper hand, but he tried to find other things, however inane, to take the edge off. This kind of mental game allowed him to focus better on the situation at hand.

His amusement waned, however, when Bane stopped walking. Her body went rigid, her spine straightening and her hands snapping to her sides. She looked like a soldier standing at inspection. He watched as she began to twitch prior to becoming completely boneless and crashing to the floor. Hale did not react when the doctor began to sob as she lay on the floor. She had curled into a ball and was sobbing, incoherent mumbling interspersed between gasps for breath.

Hale was deciding what to do when she suddenly looked up, her gaze focused down the hall away from him. She shoved herself off the floor with some difficulty, as though she didn't know exactly know how to work her muscles.

"Oh no… no, no…" she said, before staggering forward.

Hale followed again, far more cautiously than he had been before. She stopped in front of a door at the furthest end of the hallway and then disappeared into it. Hale ran to catch up. He peered carefully around the door frame and felt his knees weaken at the sight.

All his carefully cultivated control went out the window as he rushed into the room. His quick survey had indicated that the obvious threats had been neutralized, leaving him open to react on pure instinct. He shouldered past Zandra, who appeared to have been rendered immobile again, almost knocking her over in the process.

He made his way to stand next to Bo, putting a hand on her shoulder and applying pressure as gently as he could, which he suspected was not gentle at all, by the way her expression shifted from concern to momentary anger and pain. She saw who had touched her and what he wanted and moved swiftly away from the window. Kenzi's attention had shifted to him and he indicated he wanted her to move as far away as possible. She struggled, in pain and barely able to keep her body from floating uselessly, to the other side of her small room, where she turned her back to the window.

Hale pushed away and backed up, too, giving himself some room. He waved his hands at everyone, hoping they would know enough to take cover. Without waiting to find out, Hale took a deep breath and whistled. He modulated the frequency to the highest pitch he was capable of and directed the tune over the window, blasting it with everything he had. It resisted only momentarily before enormous cracks splayed over it, finally shattering into a million little pieces that jettisoned in every direction. He knew several shards had sliced the skin on his face in passing, but he felt nothing.

He grabbed the edge of the window and vaulted into Kenzi's room, closing the distance between them and grabbing her in a fierce, protective hug. He dropped a dozen kisses on the top of her sopping head as she wept against his chest. At that point he didn't care what anyone else saw.

- x -


	25. Chapter 25  The End

_Author's Note: I owe a huge debt to Rabastan for reading through this to make sure there were no glaring errors. And for assisting me in fighting off very serious plot hang-ups._ _Go read her story, "The Human Doctor", I promise it is worth your while. _;)

- x -

Lauren made her way to the car window, a cup of coffee warming the palm of her hand. She smiled at the driver as he lowered the window.

"Detective," she acknowledged, handing him the cup.

Hale graciously accepted the coffee and gave her one of his winning grins. He tilted his head to the side and patted the passenger seat of the sedan. Lauren made her way around the car and slipped in beside him.

"She's not gonna see you, Lauren. She gave me explicit instructions to keep you 'the hell away from here.' I think those were her words."

Lauren shook her head sadly. "Why do you think I brought something to bribe you with?"

"Hmm." He took a sip of the coffee and nodded his appreciation. "It's a fool's errand, Lauren. I wish you wouldn't torture yourself like this…"

Lauren sat silently, staring out the window at the door to Bo's clubhouse. She fidgeted with her fingers before realizing the behavior, stopping herself and resting her hands on her thighs. She struggled with the emotions that warred within her. She wanted to see Bo, had to at least have some kind of closure. She also felt a little bit indignant at Bo's treatment of her. Why the succubus thought it was okay to completely blow Lauren off— despite what had happened—was beyond the doctor. It smacked of teenage petulance and Lauren wanted it addressed.

"I brought something for Kenzi, Hale; Something that will heal her." Hale's worried smile brightened and Lauren couldn't help but return it.

"You're awesome, Doc! If she won't see you, then you tell me and I'll come knock her head off the wall for you," he said.

"You don't need to threaten her, Hale. You Fae always seem to forget that I have my own special brand of charm," Lauren said, although she wasn't really that confident. But if Bo continued to give her the cold shoulder, Lauren was prepared to do whatever it took to improve the succubus' manners.

"So, uh, how's Doctor Bane?" Hale asked, attempting to change the subject. Not that the subject of Lauren's friend was much better.

"I had to turn her over to the Dark. It didn't seem to matter to the Morrigan that Zandra had made their pact while being manipulated by Lokee. She had no control over what she was doing whatsoever. She begged me incessantly for forgiveness, Hale. It was awful."

"Is she in danger?"

Lauren thought for a moment. "No. I don't think so. The Morrigan is hoping she'll end up with a human doctor of her very own. If Zandra works out, I suspect that the Morrigan will be very pleased."

"Will she work out?"

"I have no doubt, actually. As horrible as this experience has been for her, Zandra has always been resilient. She also has a voracious appetite for learning. This is just a new branch of education for her."

Hale made a non-committal noise and shook his head. "What a mess, eh?"

"Yeah, it really is. By the way, where is Dyson, anyway?"

"We decided we should take turns staking out Bo's place. We're just watching to make sure no one gets in or out. Bo didn't want us here, but we wouldn't take no for an answer."

"It's hard for you, isn't it? Being out here when all you want to do is be inside with Kenzi?"

Hale sucked in a sharp breath and gave her a 'thanks for reminding me' glare. But he supposed their relationship had put them in a position to be able to discuss the situation. And it felt kind of nice to be able to share his affection for Kenzi with someone. "Yeah, it's tough. But I am as close as I need to be right now. I feel better knowing no one is gonna touch a hair on her head."

"Hale," Lauren shifted in the seat, reached out and grabbed his hand. "I owe you an apology, too, you know. I'm sorry that this happened…"

"Lauren, stop. I told you before that none of this was your fault. You need to stop blaming yourself."

She muttered something about that being easier said than done while simultaneously nodding her acknowledgement. "I should go do this before I lose my nerve."

"Good luck, Lauren."

"Thanks. If I know Bo I'm going to need it," she said as she slipped out of the car. She closed the door and gave him a sad smile and wiggled her fingers in farewell.

- x -

Lauren tightened her hand into a fist and pounded on the door. She could hear heavy footfalls beyond. It opened just wide enough for Bo to peak out. When the succubus saw that it was Lauren at the door, she frowned angrily and tried to close it, but Lauren had been expecting that and was quicker. She stuck her foot in the opening just in time, ignoring the pain when the door connected with the side of it.

"You have no business here, Lauren," Bo spat.

"I'm not here for you," Lauren said, feeling slightly guilty about the white lie.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?"

"Bo, let me in. You're only prolonging Kenzi's pain if you don't let me give her what I have."

She knew that would motivate Bo. The succubus shoved her hand through the opening, palm up. "Then give whatever it is to me."

Lauren shook her head. "No, Bo. Let me in." She removed her foot, trusting Bo to do the right thing. The succubus slammed the door shut and Lauren stood there, feeling the wind the violent action had created blow the ends of her hair slightly. She waited, feeling her patience slowly draining away. It had almost disappeared completely when Bo finally opened the door only wide enough for Lauren to slip through sideways.

Lauren stared at Bo as she moved around the door and the succubus' eyes, full of anger and resentment, followed her. The brunette stood before Lauren in full gear, as though she were expecting trouble. She wore her tight leather pants, knee high boots, and a full complement of weapons. The only concession to comfort was the tank top fit precisely over her upper body.

Lauren felt her body react immediately and detested it for betraying her when she needed every ounce of strength she could muster. How could she possibly be turned on by this woman when she was required to present a rock-solid façade? She hated that Bo still managed to wrest all control from her.

"Bo—"

"Kenzi is sleeping. You can give whatever you need to and then you can go," Bo said, voice even and unaffected. Lauren searched the succubus' face for a chink in her armour. Unable to find any, Lauren merely nodded and started for Kenzi's room. Bo stayed where she was and watched. Lauren could feel the brunette's gaze boring holes into the back of her head.

Lauren carefully opened the door to Kenzi's room, hoping not to wake her. But when she peaked in she found Kenzi partially propped up in the bed eyeing her with curiosity. Lauren smiled, relieved that Kenzi wasn't trying to kill her with dagger-like stares, too.

"Hi," she said, "How are you feeling?"

Kenzi half-shrugged, then grimaced at the pain. "Meh," she said.

"I brought you something… Trick helped me find it. It will make you better."

"What is it?" Kenzi enquired, looking intrigued. Lauren assumed Kenzi might like the idea of accepting something, anything, from her better if she dropped Trick's name.

"Phoenix tears. They are extremely rare. I asked him to find me some for another patient and I had enough left over for you."

Kenzi eyed her with curiosity. "What did you have to do in exchange?"

Lauren smiled. It always amazed her how quickly Kenzi adapted to the niceties of being part of the Fae world. The girl was more spirited than anyone Lauren had ever met. It didn't matter that most of the time Kenzi didn't trust Lauren—even at times seemed to dislike the doctor—Lauren still admired and respected her. Of everyone Lauren knew Kenzi had no issues telling things like they were. You always knew where you stood with her.

"Never mind that, Kenzi," Lauren said, but at Kenzi's raised eyebrow, she explained, "I offered a future trade, but he accepted something that I had already done as payment."

"Well, Bo's pissed at you," Kenzi said.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious."

"She thinks you betrayed her."

Lauren sat down in the chair next to Kenzi's bed, where she suspected Bo had previously been sitting, and folded her arms across her chest. "I know," she said quietly. "She has a right to be angry, Kenzi. So do you."

To her surprise, Kenzi waved her good hand in a dismissive gesture. "I told Bo she was being harsh. It's not like you knew that jackass was going to show up and try to mess with your life—I mean our lives." Lauren stared at the younger woman, mouth only slightly agape. "What," Kenzi said, "you are surprised that I defended you?" It was Lauren's turn to shrug and Kenzi laughed. "It didn't do any good anyway, Bo's… stubborn. But you know that."

"Yeah, just a little," Lauren admitted.

"So what are you going to do?"

Lauren sat forward and rummaged in her pocket, withdrawing the vial she had brought with her. "Drink this, Kenzi. It will heal you."

"Ah, I see. You're going to fix me to get back into Bo's pants," Kenzi said, a mischievous twinkle lighting her eye.

"Not exactly. I don't think that's an option any more. I just want you healed so you can watch her back." She didn't add: _because I won't be able to anymore._

Kenzi reached out and took the proffered medication. She held it still while Lauren unscrewed the cap for her, then upended it into her mouth and made an exaggerated face at the disgusting flavor.

"You sure you're not trying to kill me?" Kenzi muttered, scraping the tips of her fingers over her tongue.

"Are you saying that foot soup tastes better?" Lauren asked with an amused chuckle.

"Actually, that soup was phenomenal... aside from the obvious barf factor and narsty side-effects."

Lauren chuckled again. "I wouldn't doubt that an Aswang would be a very good cook."

Kenzi made a gagging noise and shook her head, trying to clear the memory. "Gah!" she said, waving her hand. "You better go talk to Bo, see if you can bat your pretty eyelashes and snap her out of it."

"If only it would be so easy. I'll come back to check on you, if I can get Wrath of Succubus to allow it," Lauren said. "Again, I really am sorry, Kenzi."

"If this works, Doc, you got my vote. Now skedaddle, let a girl get her beauty sleep!"

Lauren helped Kenzi lie back down and drew the comforter up, tucking it gently around her. She offered Kenzi one more tentative smile before slowly making her way through the clubhouse, unease spreading throughout her system. She hated the feeling of untied threads, and especially despised when they were beyond her power to knot.

She found Bo standing in the kitchen leaning against the counter with her arms crossed. As soon as Lauren entered the room Bo's eyes found her. The succubus was still smoldering and Lauren wondered how much ice would be required to thaw her out. It was a good thing some considered her cold—in fact, Kenzi had once compared her to a speculum!—because Lauren was going to need every ounce of frigidity for this fight. She could feel it.

"We need to talk," Lauren started. Bo merely lifted a sarcastically curious eyebrow. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you when I suspected who had taken Kenzi. It was… kind of a shock." She searched Bo's face. There was no change in her expression. "Look," she ran a hand through her hair in frustration, "dealing with problems on my own has been kind of a modus operandi for me, Bo. It's had to be. The fae certainly don't care about the struggles of their lowly human doctor."

Lauren stopped talking. The succubus still hadn't moved. She looked like a sculpture of pure ire. It was then that Lauren felt the fight go out of her. She had never been one to give up easily, but she could pick out fights she couldn't win and though it killed her she saw that this was one. She had at least figured on some sort of reaction on Bo's part, but there was nothing. The brunette simply stood staring, torso rising and falling in steady rhythm with her breathing. Lauren felt her own chest constrict in anguish. She shook her head sadly, gave Bo one long last searching gaze and then turned away. She let her head drop forward in defeat as she headed for the door, fought valiantly against the tears that threatened.

As her fingers found the knob, she thought she heard Bo say something. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Bo had taken a few steps forward and had reached out to Lauren. When their gaze locked, Bo dropped her hands to her side and her expression softened. In a very small voice Bo repeated Lauren's name. The tears finally fell. Lauren turned completely around, her face wet with them.

"I thought—" Bo's voice cracked slightly and she had to clear her throat to start again. "I thought I knew why I was angry, Lauren." She spoke softly, as though she was afraid that her previous behavior would make Lauren skittish. "I was so upset that you were _still_ keeping secrets, after everything we've been through, you still didn't trust me. I thought about it though, Lauren, and I understand that your whole life is one giant secret. There is not a single person in this world that you _can_ trust. You are right the fae don't care and you can't tell the humans. You have practiced for so long that it stands to reason that you can't simply undo that training, no matter… your relationship with another."

Lauren felt herself start to shake. Pent up frustration, anger, angst and woe were draining away and she had no energy left without them. They had been sustaining her. Bo seemed to know and came forward, gripping her shoulders to keep her standing. It was a gentle, strengthening touch.

"I figured it out. The real reason I was so, so livid," Bo continued. "You wanted to sacrifice yourself in exchange for Kenzi, Lauren. Why? Why would you think that I could bear to lose you any more than I could to lose her?"

"I didn't—"

"You don't, do you? _Think._ You just act. You're so used to triage that you do it with everything, Lauren. You can't see further than the means that justify the ends. You don't see the fallout. You don't see the way the world would change after you make your decisions."

"I can't afford to, Bo."

"You can, Lauren. You just need to slow down. Look around you, there are people who care about you. _I care about you_." Bo closed the space between them, enveloping the doctor in a tight hug. "I'm still angry, Lauren. I think I might be for a little while. But I think we can work this out if you'll wait for me—if you'll just hang on."

- x-

_Fini_

_Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this story!  
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